Researchers of the New York Medical School University have discovered that human gene, which is responsible for an urinary bladder formation, may be a reason of an inborn defect that is the main reason of children’s kidney failure.

The discovery can facilitate determination of problems with kidneys and ureters at the early stage. It also helps to explain how a gene, which is obviously plays a pivotal role in supporting normal operation of the entire urine-excreting system, operates.

It’s the first time scientist have found a gene called uroplakin III in a mouse organism. Absence or mutation of the gene threaten urinary bladder normal functionality and negatively affect newborn mice. The uroplakin genes were first identified in the 1990s. Scientists discovered that the bladder wall is covered with numerous solid protein spots which form a crystal shell. Mammals, including human beings, have these genes. But the function of these genes is still unknown in major.

In the new study on mice it was found that mice with a lack of the uroplakin III gene had permeable bladders. Indigestion of the bladder structure in the areas where ureters are connected with the bladder was the worst, and bladder wall in these areas was inflamed. These abnormalities enabled urine to flow in back into a kidney.

Back flow of urine into kidney may result in a kidney intoxication and its failure in the end. Researchers suppose that gene operation model and disease of mice and people have a lot in common. Additional researches to understand whether this gene can really initiate a failure of human kidneys are under way.

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