Gene targeting in kidney development

Cancer and development are conceptually related because tumor formation in many cases results from the aberrant expression of a developmental program. This is certainly true of Wilms' tumors, which display a range of phenotypes resembling various stages of kidney development. WT1 has been identified as a tumor suppressor gene involved in a subset of Wilms' tumors. Gene targeting of the WT1 gene demonstrated the requirement for this gene product during early urogenital development. Several other genes, including Wnt-4, c-ret, ld and lim 1, have been shown by gene targeting to also be involved in early kidney development. This review discusses gene targeting as an approach to the study of development and reviews the phenotypes of these and other genes involved in kidney organogenesis.