Figure 1: Mice lacking Dullard in their nephrons die before adulthood. | Nature Communications

Figure 1: Mice lacking Dullard in their nephrons die before adulthood.

From: The phosphatase Dullard negatively regulates BMP signalling and is essential for nephron maintenance after birth

Figure 1

(a) X-gal staining of E17.5 kidneys from wild-type (Dullard+/+) and DullardlacZ/+ heterozygous mice. Arrows: metanephric mesenchyme; arrowheads: ureteric bud. Scale bar, 100 μm. Inset: high-magnification image of the nephrogenic zone. Scale bar, 50 μm. (b) X-gal staining of a 2-week-old DullardlacZ/+ heterozygous kidney showing lacZ expression in all renal tubule segments throughout the cortex, outer medulla and inner medulla. Scale bar, 100 μm. (c) Macroscopic evaluation of 28-day-old Dullardflox/flox and Hoxb7Cre; Dullardflox/flox mutant kidneys. No obvious abnormalities are observed. Scale bar, 1 mm. (d) Macroscopic views of Dullardflox/flox and Six2Cre; Dullardflox/flox kidneys at birth and at 28 days of age, showing a significant size reduction of the mutant kidney at P28. Scale bar, 1 mm. (e) Measurements of the renal length and weight at P28 show obvious size reductions of the Six2Cre; Dullardflox/flox mutant kidneys (n=6 in each group). Mean±s.d., *P<0.001. (f) A Kaplan–Meier survival analysis shows a significant difference between control (n=18) and Six2Cre; Dullardflox/flox mutant mice (n=12) (two-sided log-rank test, P<0.001). The median survival time of Six2Cre; Dullardflox/flox mutant mice is 33.3 days.

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