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Generating Kidney Organoids from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Defined Conditions

Protocol
Part of the Methods in Molecular Biology book series (MIMB, volume 2155)

Abstract

The ultimate goal of regenerative medicine is to have access to an unlimited supply of specific cell types on demand, which can be used as effective therapies for a wide range of intractable disorders. With the availability of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) and greatly improved protocols for their directed differentiation into specific cell types, including kidney, this prospect could soon become a reality. We have previously described the generation of kidney organoids from hPSCs. This chapter describes our latest differentiation protocol for generating kidney tissue, which uses a cost-effective and completely defined, xeno-free medium. As with our previous protocol, these complex, multicellular three-dimensional structures are composed of all anticipated kidney cell types including nephrons segmented into the glomerulus, proximal and distal tubule as well as an extensive endothelial network, and renal interstitium. As such, kidney organoids provide useful tools for understanding human development, disease modeling, drug screening/toxicology studies and tissue engineering applications, and may facilitate the development of transplantable hPSC-derived kidney tissue for regenerative medicine purposes in the future.

Key words

Human pluripotent stem cell Kidney organoid Directed differentiation Nephrogenesis Kidney development 

Notes

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (DK107344), the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia (GNT1100970) and the Australian Research Council (DP190101705). M.H.L is a Senior Principal Research Fellow of the NHMRC (GNT1136085). The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is supported by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Murdoch Children’s Research InstituteParkvilleAustralia
  2. 2.Department of Paediatrics, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia

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