Figure 8

Morphologic changes of primary cilia during cyst progression. (a) Kidney sections of Cd79a-Tsc1 KO mice and controls at postnatal day (P) 9 are costained with anti-acetylated α-tubulin antibodies (α-Ac-Tub, green) and DBA (red), markers for cilia and the distal tubule/collecting duct, respectively. Cilia length in DBA-positive cells is measured for both pre-cystic (normally shaped tubules) and cystic lesions (area > 2000 µm²). (b) The aggregate quantification of cilia length in P9 and P11 tubular cells. The average length of pre-cystic, as well as cystic lesions, is compared between control and Cd79a-Tsc1 KO tubules. (c) Changes in cilia length over time during cyst expansion in Cd79a-KO tubules. The average cilia length was calculated from the total cilia number (n) including both normally shaped pre-cystic and cystic lesions. Cillia in Cd79a-KO tubules became longer in proportion to cyst expansion and reached a maximum length at 4 weeks of age. These data were obtained from at least 3 litters for different age. Data represent mean ± SEM and were statistically assessed by one-way ANOVA. *P < 0.05 and ****P < 0.0001.