Researchers develop second building block for growing human kidneys
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The journey to building an artificial human kidney with stem cells may be one step shorter with recent developments.
In the laboratory of Joseph V. Bonventre, MD, PhD, chief of the division of renal medicine and founding chief of the engineering in medicine division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, researchers, including Kyle McCracken, MD, PhD, have generated kidney tissue and cells that have the potential to one day be used in the creation of an artificial kidney. The kidney develops from two embryological sources, the metanephric mesenchyme and the ureteric bud. With funding from the NIH, the team derived metanephric mesenchyme tissue and kidney structures from human stem cells in 2015, and now have reported the generation of the ureteric bud and collecting duct structures from human stem cells, according to a press release.
The kidney forms as a result of a complex interaction between these two developing tissue components.
“Now the next thing would be to try to put the two types of kidney organoids together at varying stages of development and see if we can reproduce the connections that occur in humans. This can lead to more sophisticated nephron structures in a dish. While that may seem fanciful, the field of kidney regeneration has come a long way since 2015, which is a relatively short time,” Bonventre said.
According to the release, the team also created the first functional human cell lines of principal and intercalated cell lines from stem cells. These cells transport electrolytes and hydrogen ions, according to the release. These two cell types line the collecting tubular structures that represent the final urine processing component of the kidney before the urine enters the kidney pelvis, ureter and then the bladder.
Moving forward, Bonventre’s laboratory will also extend the research to experiment with new therapies for treating kidney diseases that impact the collecting system of the kidney, such as polycystic kidney disease or other hereditary disorders.
“So, I'm more optimistic that we can continue to make progress in ways that we couldn't predict 10 years ago,” Bonventre concluded.
Reference:
- Human ureteric bud organoids recapitulate branching morphogenesis and differentiate into functional collecting duct cell types. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-022-01429-5. Published Aug. 29, 2022. Accessed Sept. 14, 2022.
- A key step toward growing human kidneys in the laboratory. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-key-human-kidneys-laboratory.html. Published Aug. 30, 2022. Accessed Sept. 14, 2022.
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