title: Coordinated cell behaviours in early urogenital system morphogenesis.
abstract: The elaboration of functional kidneys during embryonic development proceeds in a stepwise manner, starting with the formation of the embryonic pro- and mesonephros, followed by the induction and growth of the final metanephric kidney. These early stages of urinary tract development are critical for the embryo as a failure in pro/mesonephros morphogenesis leads to major developmental defects, often incompatible with life. The formation of the pro/mesonephros and its central component the nephric duct, is also interesting as it offers a relatively simple system to study cell biological behaviours underlying tissue morphogenesis. This system is especially well adapted to study the questions of cell lineage specification, epithelial integrity and plasticity, tissue interactions, collective cell migration/guidance and programmed cell death. In this review, we establish the link between these cell behaviours, their molecular regulators and early genitourinary tract development.
authors.affiliation: Goodman Cancer Research Centre and Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, 1160 Pine Avenue W., Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1A3.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: Goodman Cancer Research Centre and Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, 1160 Pine Avenue W., Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1A3. Electronic address: maxime.bouchard@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouchard
mesh_terms: D047108:Embryonic Development; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000196:embryology*; D008650:Mesonephros / Q000196:embryology*; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D014513:Ureter / Q000196:embryology*; D014564:Urogenital Abnormalities; D014718:Vesico-Ureteral Reflux
keywords: Cell plasticity; Duct elongation and guidance; Kidney development; Lineage specification; Ureter maturation; apoptosis