Transcriptional profiling of the zebrafish proximal tubule

The proximal tubules of the kidney carry out the bulk of solute reabsorption from the glomerular filtrate. They are also highly susceptible to damage as a result of diabetes or other syndromes that affect the kidney. The zebrafish embryonic/larval form of kidney, the pronephros, represents a simplified form of the mammalian organ, yet is easier to access and manipulate. We have recently described the importance of Hnf1b as master regulator in pronephros differentiation. Here, we establish a high-resolution expression profile of isolated, GFP-labelled proximal tubules from 3-day-old zebrafish. To enrich the profile in genes of functional relevance during pronephros differentiation, proximal tubules from Hnf1b-depleted larvae were analysed in parallel and differential expression analysis was performed. Overall design: Examination of wild-type and Hnf1b-depleted proximal tubule tissue