It is well established that cells of this primordium must receive an inductive stimulus prior to differentiating into nephrons. Utilizing molecular biological techniques to directly tag single metanephric blastemal cells, I have shown that embryonic kidney cells are able to give rise to diverse daughters. That is, prior to induction metanephric blastemal cells have not yet made the decision to become a unique mature cell type. Further lineage analysis experiments demonstrate that after induction developing renal cells assume a single mature fate. The advantage of the renal system in addressing this question is that multipotent embryonic renal cells acquire unique mature fates during a defined period of time which can be studied in cell and organ culture model systems utilizing current cell and molecular biological techniques.
Metanephric mesenchyme contains multipotent cells whose fate is restricted after induction.
Apoptosis in metanephric development. Renal stem cells and nephrogenesis. All rights reserved.