Int. J. Dev. Biol. 46: 535 - 544 (2002)

Vol 46, Issue 4

Special Issue: Developmental Biology in Australia and New Zealand

PAX genes in development and disease: the role of PAX2 in urogenital tract development

Published: 1 July 2002

Michael R Eccles, Shujie He, Michael Legge, Rajiv Kumar, Jody Fox, Chaoming Zhou, Michelle French and Robert W S Tsai

Department of Pathology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. meccles@otago.ac.nz

Abstract

PAX genes play an important role in fetal development. Moreover, heterozygous mutations in several PAX genes cause human disease. Here we review the role of PAX2 in kidney development, focusing on the morphological effects of PAX2 mutations. We discuss the role of PAX2 in the context of an inhibitory field model of kidney branching morphogenesis and summarize recent progress in this area.