Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
2007 JASN IMPACT FACTOR 7.111 HOME   AUTHOR INFO   EDITORIAL BOARD   SUBSCRIBE   FEEDBACK   ALERTS   HELP 
    advanced
CURRENT ISSUE ARCHIVES JASN Express ONLINE SUBMISSION


This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Al-Awqati, Q.
Right arrow Articles by Takito, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Al-Awqati, Q.
Right arrow Articles by Takito, J.
J Am Soc Nephrol 14:S16-S21, 2003
© 2003 American Society of Nephrology

Terminal Differentiation of Epithelia from Trophectoderm to the Intercalated Cell: The Role of Hensin

Qais Al-Awqati, Soundarapandian Vijayakumar and Jiro Takito

Departments of Medicine and Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, New York.

Correspondence to Dr. Qais Al-Awqati, Departments of Medicine and Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, 630 W 68th Street, New York, NY 10032; Phone: 212-305-3512; Fax: 212-305-3475;

ABSTRACT. The intercalated cells of the collecting tubules of mammalian kidneys were discovered by Haggege and Richet to change their morphology in response to a variety of physiologic stimuli related to changes in acid base status. Recent studies showed that the conversion of {beta} to {alpha} intercalated cell under the influence of acidification of the medium is due to the deposition of hensin in the extracellular matrix of these cells and activation of a novel inductive signal transduction pathway. The conversion of {beta} to {alpha} cells is shown to be a process of terminal differentiation. Hensin is secreted as a monomer, and activation of the cell induces two activities that convert it to a dimer by folding and into a fiber by bundling of the folded dimers by galectin 3. Only the fiber is functional. Hensin is expressed in most epithelial cells, and its staining pattern suggests that it might be involved in the terminal differentiation of most epithelia. There is loss of heterozygosity of hensin in a large number of epithelial and neural tumors, making it likely that it is a tumor suppressor gene. E-mail: qa1@columbia.edu






HOME CURRENT ISSUE ARCHIVES JASN Express ONLINE SUBMISSION AUTHOR INFO
EDITORIAL BOARD SUBSCRIBE FEEDBACK ALERTS HELP

Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Nephrology. Online ISSN: 1533-3450 Print ISSN: 1046-6673