Figure 4.

Nephrectomy accelerates kidney organogenesis and degeneration. (A): Overview of experimental plan. Twelve days after embryonic kidney transplantation, mice were subjected to the removal of one kidney or a sham operation. All mice were given drinking water containing 0.8 mg/ml BrdU immediately after surgery. BrdU-containing water was prepared fresh and replaced daily for 9 consecutive days, after which it was replaced with regular water. Following 5 additional days, all mice were euthanized for analysis, and LNs and native kidneys collected. (B): Dot plot comparing the number of BrdU label-retaining cells in control (mice 1–4) versus remnant kidneys after nephrectomy (mice 5–8). The number of BrdU⁺ cells was estimated using at least six different randomly selected microscopic fields. Representative immunofluorescence pictures are shown. Sections were stained for BrdU (red), and nuclei were counterstained using Hoechst (blue). (C): Representative pictures of 3.7-week kidney grafts of nephrectomized mice (upper panels) as compared with 12-week kidney grafts (lower panels). Abbreviations: BrdU, bromodeoxyuridine; EK, embryonic kidney; K, kidney; LN, lymph node; wks, weeks.