Researchers create comprehensive map of human kidney to study disease progression
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Key takeaways:
- The atlas contains maps of 51 main kidney cell types, including rare and novel forms.
- The database also has interactive 3D models of cells and microenvironments.
Researchers funded by the NIH developed a comprehensive atlas of the human kidney to examine disease progression and recovery.
The Kidney Tissue Atlas, created through the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP), could allow investigators to compare healthy kidney cells to those injured by disease to better understand disease progression and factors leading to kidney failure and revival.
“KPMP’s atlas represents open, public science at its best,” Eric W. Brunskill, PhD, KPMP program director in the division of kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases at the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), said in a press release. “We’ve created an interactive, hypothesis-generating resource for kidney disease.”
The atlas contains maps of 51 main kidney cell types, including rare and novel forms, according to the researchers. The database also has 28 kidney cell states that represent injury or disease, raw gene data and interactive 3D models of cells and microenvironments.
Researchers used 45 healthy donor kidneys and 48 biopsies from patients with kidney disease to pinpoint varying root causes and pathways to subgroups of chronic kidney disease and AKI and aim to personalize treatment for different patients.
The study received also support from the Human Cell Atlas initiative, geared toward gathering data on at least 10 billion human cells, and the NIH’s Human BioMolecular Atlas Program, developing a global platform to map healthy cells throughout the human body.
“KPMP brings together the best of new technology, patient engagement and partnership, and represents an evolution in the way we think,” NIDDK Director Griffin P. Rodgers, MD, MACP, said in the release. “The Kidney Tissue Atlas will help us discover new ways to get the right kidney disease treatment to the right patient at the right time.”
Publicly available data created by KPMP, including 3D renderings and analytical tools, can be accessed at atlas.kpmp.org. The full study findings are published in Nature.
“Defining the underlying molecular diversity at a single-cell level is key to understanding progression of AKI to CKD, kidney failure, heart disease or death,” Blue B. Lake, of the department of bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues, wrote in the study. “The insights, discoveries and interactive data visualization tools provided here will serve as key resources for studies into normal physiology and sex differences, pathways associated with transitions from healthy and injury states, clinical outcomes, disease pathogenesis and targeted interventions.”
Reference:
- Lake BB, et al. Nature. 2023;doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05769-3.
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