Elsevier

Kidney International

Volume 68, Issue 5, November 2005, Pages 1944-1947
Kidney International

Forefronts in Nephrology
Roles of HNF-1β in kidney development and congenital cystic diseases

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1755.2005.00625.xGet rights and content
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Roles of HNF-1β in kidney development and congenital cystic diseases. Hepatocyte nuclear factor-1β (HNF-1β) is a Pit-1/Oct-1/Unc-86 (POU)/homeodomain-containing transcription factor that regulates tissue-specific gene expression in the kidney, liver, pancreas, and other epithelial organs. Mutations of HNF-1β produce maturity-onset diabetes of the young type 5 (MODY5) and are associated with congenital cystic abnormalities of the kidney. Transgenic mice expressing mutant HNF-1β under the control of a kidney-specific promoter develop kidney cysts and renal failure, which is similar to the phenotype of humans with MODY5. Similarly, kidney-specific deletion of HNF-1β using Cre/loxP recombination results in renal cyst formation. HNF-1β directly regulates the Pkhd1 promoter. HNF-1β mutant mice show decreased expression of Pkhd1, the gene that is mutated in humans with autosomal-recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). These studies demonstrate that HNF-1β is required for the development of the mammalian kidney. They establish a previously unrecognized link between two renal cystic diseases, MODY5 and ARPKD, and suggest that the mechanism of cyst formation in humans with mutations of HNF-1β involves down-regulation of PKHD1 gene transcription.

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