Genes expressed with high specificity in kidney

#The invention relates to isolated polynucleotides and proteins that are highly, specifically expressed in kidney and useful for assessing kidney function or in diagnosing, staging, treating and evaluating therapies for kidney disorders.

#The kidney is the organ primarily responsible for removing soluble waste products from the blood. The cells of the kidney express a variety of genes that regulate or participate in the elimination of such substances as drugs, minerals, hormones, and nutrients from the blood and in the regulation of blood pressure, blood volume, and electrolyte concentrations.

#Urine formation is a balance between glomerular filtration and tubular re-absorption/secretion. The kidney has developed high-capacity transport systems to prevent loss of nutrients as well as electrolytes and to facilitate tubular secretion of a wide range of organic ions. The dysfunction of a transport system often leads to kidney dysfunction or failure.

#It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular devices, machines, materials and methods described. Although equivalent embodiments can be used to practice the invention, the particular described embodiments were used and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention which is limited only by the appended claims.

#I cDNA Library Construction

#RNA was purchased from Clontech or isolated from kidney tissues, some of which are described for their polynucleotide expression in Example VII below. Some tissues were homogenized and lysed in guanidinium isothiocyanate; others were homogenized and lysed in phenol or a suitable mixture of denaturants, such as TRIZOL reagent (Invitrogen). The resulting lysates were centrifuged over CsCl cushions or extracted with chloroform. RNA was precipitated from the lysates with either isopropanol or sodium acetate and ethanol, or by other routine methods. Phenol extraction and precipitation of RNA were repeated as necessary to increase RNA purity.