Sox11 gene disruption causes congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT)

Description

Congenital abnormalities of the kidney and the urinary tract (CAKUT) belong to the most common birth defectsin human, but the molecular basis for the majority of CAKUT patients remains unknown. Here we show thatthe transcription factor SOX11 is a crucial regulator of kidney development. SOX11 is expressed in bothmesenchymal and epithelial components of the early kidney anlagen. Deletion of Sox11 in mice causes anextension of the domain expressing Gdnf within rostral regions of the nephrogenic cord and results in duplexkidney formation. On the molecular level SOX11 directly binds and regulates a locus control region of theprotocadherin B cluster. At later stages of kidney development, SOX11 becomes restricted to the intermediatesegment of the developing nephron where it is required for the elongation of Henle's loop. Finally, mutationanalysis in a cohort of patients suffering from CAKUT identified a series of rare SOX11 variants, one of whichinterferes with the transactivation capacity of the SOX11 protein. Taken together these data demonstrate akey role for SOX11 in normal kidney development and may suggest that variants in this gene predispose toCAKUT in humans

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