JERUSALEM, June 28 (Xinhua) -- An international research team has found a closer-than-expected link between kidney and skeletal development, a finding that could improve treatment for certain birth defects, Israel's University of Haifa said in a statement on Sunday.
In a study published in Science Advances, researchers found that the kidney's earliest cells originate in the same embryonic region that forms muscle, tendons, and parts of the skeleton, challenging the long-held view that kidneys develop only from a separate tissue area.
The team studied embryos of several animals, including a shark, a lamprey, and a small marine animal related to vertebrates.
Using advanced imaging, they tracked early genes tied to kidney formation and tested how blocking a key developmental signal affects organ growth, revealing that early kidney cells appear in a region that also forms muscle and bone structures.
The study also suggested that kidney and skeletal development may be more closely connected in evolution than previously believed. ■
