This study shows that mitochondrial redistribution in developing proximal tubule cells depends on fluid flow and LRRK2 activity, which is regulated by shear stress.

Nature Communications · Oct 30, 2025Peer-reviewedDevelopmental Biology

Multiple Wnt signaling pathways direct epithelial tubule interconnection in the regenerating zebrafish kidney

Caramai N. Kamei, William G. B. Sampson, Carolin Albertz, Oliver Aries, Amber Wolf, Rohan M. Upadhyay, Samuel M. Hughes, Heiko Joachim Schenk, Frederic Bonnet, Bruce W. Draper, Kyle W. McCracken, Denise K. Marciano, Leif H. Oxburgh, Iain A. S. Drummond

This study identifies the roles of canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling pathways in directing epithelial tubule interconnection during zebrafish kidney regeneration.

bioRxiv · Mar 26, 2025 · PreprintDevelopmental Biology

Epithelial tubule interconnection driven by HGF-Met signaling in the kidney

Isabel A. López-García, Sunhee Oh, Christopher P. Chaney, Jun Tsunezumi, Iain A. S. Drummond, Leif H. Oxburgh, Thomas J. Carroll, Denise K. Marciano

This study identifies HGF as a key inducer of epithelial tubule anastomosis in vitro and in embryonic kidneys, revealing a proliferation-independent mechanism involving MAPK and MMPs.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · Dec 20, 2024Peer-reviewedDevelopmental Biology

A β-catenin-driven switch in TCF/LEF transcription factor binding to DNA target sites promotes commitment of mammalian nephron progenitor cells

Qiuyu Guo, Albert Kim, Bin Li, Andrew Ransick, Helena Bugacov, Xi Chen, Nils O. Lindström, Aaron Clifford Brown, Leif H. Oxburgh, Bing Ren, Andrew P. McMahon

The paper shows that β-catenin modulates TCF/LEF binding at gene targets, switching from inhibitory to activating complexes during nephron progenitor cell differentiation.

eLife · Feb 15, 2021Peer-reviewedDevelopmental Biology

Asynchronous mixing of kidney progenitor cells potentiates nephrogenesis in organoids

Ashwani Gupta, Prasenjit Sarkar, Jason A. Wertheim, Xinchao Pan, Thomas J. Carroll, Leif H. Oxburgh

This study shows that asynchronous mixing of kidney progenitor cells in organoids enhances nephrogenesis and functional features, but stromal overgrowth limits long-term study.

Communications Biology · May 11, 2020Peer-reviewedDevelopmental Biology

Proliferation control of kidney interstitial cells

Sarah S. McCarthy, Lindsey Gower, Michele J. Karolak, Alicia R. England, Thomas J. Carroll, Leif H. Oxburgh

This study shows that TGFβ/Smad signaling controls interstitial cell proliferation in the neonatal kidney by inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin signaling to prevent over-proliferation.

bioRxiv · Apr 11, 2020 · PreprintDevelopmental Biology

Re-Evaluating One-step Generation of Mice Carrying Conditional Alleles by CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing Technology

Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy, Aidan R. O’Brien, Rolen M. Quadros, John Adams, Pilar Alcaide, Shinya Ayabe, Johnathan L. Ballard, Surinder K. Batra, M.-C. Beauchamp, Kathleen A. Becker, Guillaume Bernas, David Brough, Francisco Javier Carrillo-Salinas, Wesley Chan, Hanying Chen, , Atsushi Yoshiki

The paper re-evaluates the efficiency of a CRISPR-Cas9 method for generating conditional knockout alleles in mice, finding very low success rates and high rates of undesired alleles.

Genome biology · Aug 25, 2019Peer-reviewedGenetics