Submit a Manuscript to the Journal
Renal Failure
For an Article Collection on
Early Life Origins, Epigenetic Regulation, and Developmental Programming of Kidney Disease: From Fetopathology to Pediatric Nephrology
Manuscript deadline
Article Collection Guest Advisor(s)
Professor Sihem Darouich,
Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunisia
sihem.darouich@rns.tn
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Early Life Origins, Epigenetic Regulation, and Developmental Programming of Kidney Disease: From Fetopathology to Pediatric Nephrology
Human nephrogenesis is strictly bounded in time, ceasing around 36 weeks of gestation without any capacity for postnatal replacement. Consequently, the total nephron endowment established in utero sets an individual's lifelong functional renal reserve. Adverse intrauterine conditions, such as placental insufficiency, intrauterine growth restriction, maternal malnutrition, preeclampsia, or extreme preterm birth, disrupt metanephric progenitor cell maintenance and branching morphogenesis. When delivery occurs prematurely, nephron formation is forced to continue within an adverse extrauterine environment, frequently terminating nephrogenesis early and yielding structurally aberrant, enlarged glomeruli along with a permanent nephron deficit.
From the perspective of Brenner's hyperfiltration hypothesis and the DOHaD (Developmental Origins of Health and Disease) framework, a reduced nephron baseline forces surviving glomeruli into compensatory single-nephron hyper-filtration and intraglomerular hypertension. Over time, chronic hemodynamic shear stress causes progressive podocyte detachment, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), and tubulointerstitial injury. Though often clinically silent throughout childhood, this subclinical renal vulnerability substantially increases susceptibility to secondary metabolic or hemodynamic insults, accelerating early-onset hypertension, proteinuria, and adult-onset chronic kidney disease.
This Article Collection brings together developmental biology, fetopathology, and pediatric nephrology to address the early-life programming of renal disease. We welcome articles on the following topics:
- Single-cell transcriptomics, chromatin remodeling, and epigenetic fate decisions in nephron progenitor cells (SIX2, Polycomb complexes, SWI/SNF).
- Fetal and extrauterine nephrogenic zone microanatomy and histomorphometric alterations under adverse exposures.
- In utero environmental determinants, intrarenal renin-angiotensin dysregulation, and oxidative stress pathways in DOHaD models.
- Long-term pathophysiological cascades: Brenner–Luyckx single-nephron hyperfiltration, podocyte loss, and secondary FSGS.
Early diagnostic surrogates (3D ultrasound volumetry, urinary biomarkers) and perinatal reprogramming interventions.
Article Collection key terms:
- Nephrogenesis
- DOHaD
- Epigenetics
- Oligonephropathy
- Pediatric Nephrology
Article Collection Guest Advisor:
Dr. Sihem Darouich is a Professor of Histology, Embryology, and Fetopathology in Tunisia. Her research expertise focuses on renal developmental pathology, fetal nephrogenesis, microanatomical alterations in intrauterine growth restriction, and early-life origins of renal disease.
All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).
Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.
The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 12th July 2027.
Please contact Rebecca Kearns at Rebecca.Kearns@tandf.co.uk with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.
Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.
Dr. Sihem Darouich declares no conflict of interest regarding this work.
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All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo desk assessment and peer-review as part of our standard editorial process. Guest Advisors for this Collection will not be involved in peer-reviewing manuscripts unless they are an existing member of the Editorial Board. Please review the journal Aims and Scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.