Kidney Development in the Mammal

Abstract

The human kidney, as with many mammals, is "structurally" complete by birth. While the final organ can undergo limited repair after injury, the postnatal organ cannot regenerate. As a result, regenerative approaches for the treatment of kidney disease are likely to require the recapitulation or recreation of developmental processes. This requires a comprehensive understanding of the normal processes of kidney organogenesis. This chapter will describe the cellular and molecular processes involved in development of the mammalian kidney, including the human, thereby providing a framework for subsequent discussions about regeneration.