Kidney organoids grown in the lab and suspended in a lab dish show the formation of cysts (right) in the disease model of PKD. Normal kidney organoids are on the left.
(Image via Freedman Lab/UW Medicine)
Researchers can now successfully track the early stages of polycystic kidney disease in lab-grown mini-kidneys, which mimic the full-grown human organs. This is the first time scientists are able to track the progress of this renal disease, which affects 12 million people, in a laboratory setting. The mini-kidneys were grown using human stem cells. Researchers have tested different scenarios for external conditions where the mini-kidneys were placed, and how that affected the progression of the disease. In another upcoming paper, researchers also discuss how podocytes can be grown in a lab environment to help further our understanding of renal diseases.
Authors:
Nelly M. Cruz, Xuewen Song, Stefan M. Czerniecki, Ramila E. Gulieva, Angela J. Churchill, Yong Kyun Kim, Kosuke Winston, Linh M. Tran, Marco A. Diaz, Hongxia Fu, Laura S. Finn, York Pei, Jonathan Himmelfarb & Benjamin S. Freedman
Canadian authors:
Xuewen Song & York Pei, Division of Nephrology, University Health Network, University of Toronto, ON
Corresponding author:
Benjamin Freedman, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, US, Email: benof@uw.edu
Original paper published in Nature Materials on October 2, 2017.
