Differential gene expression between wild type and Wnt11 mutant embryonic kidneys

The goal of this study was to identify changes in gene expression within nephron progenitors and the whole embryonic kidney between Wnt11 mutants and wild type animals. Wnt11 mutant kidneys have disorganized nephron progenitor niches. Ultimately, nephron endowment is reduced by 50% in Wnt11 mutants. Gene expression changes are minimal between mutant and wild type samples, suggesting Wnt11 may act through non-canonical, non-transcritional mechanisms to regulate kidney development. Total RNA was isolated from either E15.5 whole kidneys or Six2+GFP+ FACS-isolated kidney nephron progenitors. Wnt11 homozygous mutant kidneys were compared to wild type controls. Wnt11tm1a animals were crossed to the Six2TGC transgenic line in order to label and isolate GFP+ nephron progenitors. For the FACS isolated cells, three biological replicates for each group (Wild type vs. Mutant) were collected. For whole kidneys, six biological replicates from each group were collected. Samples represent a mix of female and male animals. Isolated RNA was subjected to high throughput sequencing analyses to identify differentially expressed transcripts.