Håkan Axelson
Research team manager
Isolation and characterization of progenitor-like cells from human renal proximal tubules.
Author
Summary, in English
The tubules of the kidney display a remarkable capacity for self-renewal on damage. Whether this regeneration is mediated by dedifferentiating surviving cells or, as recently suggested, by stem cells has not been unequivocally settled. Herein, we demonstrate that aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity may be used for isolation of cells with progenitor characteristics from adult human renal cortical tissue. Gene expression profiling of the isolated ALDH(high) and ALDH(low) cell fractions followed by immunohistochemical interrogation of renal tissues enabled us to delineate a tentative progenitor cell population scattered through the proximal tubules (PTs). These cells expressed CD24 and CD133, previously described markers for renal progenitors of Bowman's capsule. Furthermore, we show that the PT cells, and the glomerular progenitors, are positive for KRT7, KRT19, BCL2, and vimentin. In addition, tubular epithelium regenerating on acute tubular necrosis displayed long stretches of CD133(+)/VIM(+) cells, further substantiating that these cells may represent a progenitor cell population. Furthermore, a potential association of these progenitor cells with papillary renal cell carcinoma was discovered. Taken together, our data demonstrate the presence of a previously unappreciated subset of the PT cells that may be endowed with a more robust phenotype, allowing increased resistance to acute renal injury, enabling rapid repopulation of the tubules.
Department/s
- Department of Translational Medicine
- Pathology, Malmö
- Tumor microenvironment
- BioCARE: Biomarkers in Cancer Medicine improving Health Care, Education and Innovation
Publishing year
2011
Language
English
Pages
828-837
Publication/Series
American Journal of Pathology
Volume
178
Issue
2
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
American Society for Investigative Pathology
Topic
- Cell and Molecular Biology
Status
Published
Research group
- Pathology, Malmö
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1525-2191