Renal form and function: making your kidneys and keeping them happy

Kidney development is driven by interactions between the branching epithelial ureteric bud (which forms the collecting duct system) and the surrounding metanephric mesenchyme (from which nephrons are derived). I will discuss the role that the ureteric epithelium plays in shaping kidney development and, in particular, how it is patterned during the process of arborisation that transforms it from a humble bud into a complex tree. I will also examine the temporal and spatial interactions between progenitor cell populations in the epithelia and mesenchyme which are central to the establishment of normal nephron endowment. After birth, renal tubule homeostasis is regulated by a network of signaling pathways, centred around primary cilia function, which control cell proliferation in the collecting ducts. I will discuss one such pathway governed by the INPP5E protein and examine the mechanism by which its loss leads to the development of renal cysts commonly observed in patients with ciliopathies.