封面图片：发育中肾脏基因的蓝图通过一张热图表现，在热图的后面是一个发育中的肾脏的共聚焦图像，封面设计：Bruce Aronow，Eric Brunskill，Todd Valerius）
肾脏的发育过程取决于大量基因的细胞种类特异性分化表达，尽管目前多个关键的基因和路径都已经得到了研究阐明，但是科学家还从未得到对于单个细胞和解剖结构的基因表达的整个基因组尺度的分析结果。在2008年11月11日出版的《发育细胞》（Developmental Cell）上，来自美国的Brunskill等科学家得到了发育中肾脏的各个不同部分间基因表达模式的图谱。
研究小组在本期刊物的封面文章中详细描述了他们得到的基因表达图谱，在得到图谱的过程中，科学家利用激光捕获显微分离（laser capture microdissection）以及荧光激活细胞分拣术（fluorescence activated cell sorting）等方法得到了发育中的小鼠肾脏的各部分详细数据，此外，研究人员还利用Affymetrix GeneChips芯片对肾脏样本进行了基因微阵列分析。作者表示他们得到的结果与已知的表达模式符合。
完成以上的图谱能够帮助科学家更好的研究基本的发育机制，例如间充质细胞-上皮细胞转变，诱导信号，形态发生等等。图谱使得全面分析肾脏发生过程中基因表达状态的发展变得可能，除此之外，作者表示它还有助于发现潜在的生长因子-受体相互作用。研究结果更好的揭示了肾脏发育的基因调节机制。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Developmental Cell，Volume 15, Issue 5, 781-791, 11 November 2008，Eric W. Brunskill, S. Steven Potter
Atlas of Gene Expression in the Developing Kidney at Microanatomic Resolution
Eric W. Brunskill1,Bruce J. Aronow2,Kylie Georgas3,Bree Rumballe3,M. Todd Valerius4,Jeremy Aronow2,Vivek Kaimal2,Anil G. Jegga2,Sean Grimmond3,Andrew P. McMahon4,Larry T. Patterson5,Melissa H. Little3andS. Steven Potter1,,
1 Division of Developmental Biology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
2 Division of Biomedical Informatics, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
3 Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
4 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
5 Division of Nephrology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
SUMMARY
Kidney development is based on differential cell-type-specific expression of a vast number of genes. While multiple critical genes and pathways have been elucidated, a genome-wide analysis of gene expression within individual cellular and anatomic structures is lacking. Accomplishing this couldprovide significant new insights into fundamental developmental mechanisms such as mesenchymal-epithelial transition, inductive signaling, branching morphogenesis, and segmentation. We describe here a comprehensive gene expression atlas of the developing mouse kidney based on the isolation of each major compartment by either laser capture microdissection or fluorescence-activated cell sorting, followed by microarray profiling. The resulting data agree with known expression patterns and additional insitu hybridizations. This kidney atlas allowsa comprehensive analysis of the progression of gene expression states during nephrogenesis, as well as discovery of potential growth factor-receptor interactions. In addition, the results provide deeper insight into the genetic regulatory mechanisms of kidney development.
