Convoluted Cleaning

Your kidneys are master cleaners. They filter your blood, clearing out waste products and absorbing vital nutrients and water. Needless to say, this is a complex task that involves an intricate system of tubes and ducts, including structures called the proximal convoluted tubules (PCTs). Researchers now investigate the architecture of PCTs, focusing on a protein called CAMSAP3. CAMSAP3 regulates the formation of a network of proteins called microtubules, which give cells their shape. CAMSAP3 was already known to regulate the structure of epithelial cells lining the intestines. Here researchers show that it also regulates the structure of PCTs. In mice with a mutated Camsap3 gene, scanning electron microscopy of their kidneys revealed that the PCTs were severely dilated (right) compared to normal mice PCTs (left). Mutant PCTs also had cysts and flattened epithelial cells with disorganised microtubules. CAMSAP3 is therefore vital in forming the elaborate structure of the PCT.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image adapted from work by Yuto Mitsuhata and colleagues
• Laboratory of Cytoskeletal Logistics, Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University,Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Scientific Reports, March 2021