scholarly journals A Toolbox to Characterize Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell–Derived Kidney Cell Types and Organoids

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1811-1823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Vanslambrouck ◽  
Sean B. Wilson ◽  
Ker Sin Tan ◽  
Joanne Y.-C. Soo ◽  
Michelle Scurr ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe generation of reporter lines for cell identity, lineage, and physiologic state has provided a powerful tool in advancing the dissection of mouse kidney morphogenesis at a molecular level. Although use of this approach is not an option for studying human development in vivo, its application in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is now feasible.MethodsWe used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to generate ten fluorescence reporter iPSC lines designed to identify nephron progenitors, podocytes, proximal and distal nephron, and ureteric epithelium. Directed differentiation to kidney organoids was performed according to published protocols. Using immunofluorescence and live confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, and cell sorting techniques, we investigated organoid patterning and reporter expression characteristics.ResultsEach iPSC reporter line formed well patterned kidney organoids. All reporter lines showed congruence of endogenous gene and protein expression, enabling isolation and characterization of kidney cell types of interest. We also demonstrated successful application of reporter lines for time-lapse imaging and mouse transplantation experiments.ConclusionsWe generated, validated, and applied a suite of fluorescence iPSC reporter lines for the study of morphogenesis within human kidney organoids. This fluorescent iPSC reporter toolbox enables the visualization and isolation of key populations in forming kidney organoids, facilitating a range of applications, including cellular isolation, time-lapse imaging, protocol optimization, and lineage-tracing approaches. These tools offer promise for enhancing our understanding of this model system and its correspondence with human kidney morphogenesis.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Wook Hwang ◽  
Christophe Desterke ◽  
Julien Loisel-Duwattez ◽  
Frank Griscelli ◽  
Annelise Bennaceur-Griscelli ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundIn mammalians, hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) arise in the dorsal aorta from the hemogenic endothelium, followed by their migration to fetal liver and to bone marrow. In zebrafish, kidney is the site of primary hematopoiesis. In humans, the presence of HSC in the fetal or adult kidney has not been established.MethodsWe analyzed the presence of HSC markers in human fetal kidneys by analysis of single-cell datasets. We then analyzed in kidney organoids derived from iPSC, the presence of hematopoietic markers using transcriptome analyses.Results12 clusters were identified of stromal, endothelial, and nephron cell type-specific markers in the two fetal stage (17 weeks) kidney datasets. Among these, expression of hematopoietic cells in Cluster 9 showed expression of primitive markers. Moreover, whole transcriptome analysis of our iPSC-derived kidney organoids revealed induction of the primitive hematopoietic transcription factor RUNX1 as found in the human fetal kidney cortex.ConclusionsThese finding support the presence of cells expressing HSC transcriptome in human kidney. The mechanisms of the appearance of the cells with the same transcriptional features during iPSC-derived kidney organoid generation requires further investigation.


Author(s):  
Navin Gupta✉ ◽  
Emre Dilmen ◽  
Ryuji Morizane

Abstract The kidneys are essential organs that filter the blood, removing urinary waste while maintaining fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. Current conventional research models such as static cell cultures and animal models are insufficient to grasp the complex human in vivo situation or lack translational value. To accelerate kidney research, novel research tools are required. Recent developments have allowed the directed differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells to generate kidney organoids. Kidney organoids resemble the human kidney in vitro and can be applied in regenerative medicine and as developmental, toxicity, and disease models. Although current studies have shown great promise, challenges remain including the immaturity, limited reproducibility, and lack of perfusable vascular and collecting duct systems. This review gives an overview of our current understanding of nephrogenesis that enabled the generation of kidney organoids. Next, the potential applications of kidney organoids are discussed followed by future perspectives. This review proposes that advancement in kidney organoid research will be facilitated through our increasing knowledge on nephrogenesis and combining promising techniques such as organ-on-a-chip models.


Author(s):  
Jin Wook Hwang ◽  
Christophe Desterke ◽  
Julien Loisel-Duwattez ◽  
Frank Griscelli ◽  
Annelise Bennaceur-Griscelli ◽  
...  

BackgroundIn mammalians, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) arise in the dorsal aorta from the hemogenic endothelium, followed by their migration to the fetal liver and to the bone marrow. In zebrafish, the kidney is the site of primary hematopoiesis. In humans, the presence of HSCs in the fetal or adult kidney has not been established.MethodsWe analyzed the presence of HSC markers in the human fetal kidneys by analysis of single-cell datasets. We then analyzed in kidney organoids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) the presence of hematopoietic markers using transcriptome analyses.ResultsTwelve clusters were identified as stromal, endothelial, and nephron cell type-specific markers in the two fetal stage (17 weeks) kidney datasets. Among these, the expression of hematopoietic cells in cluster 9 showed an expression of primitive markers. Moreover, whole transcriptome analysis of our iPSC-derived kidney organoids revealed induction of the primitive hematopoietic transcription factor RUNX1 as found in the human fetal kidney cortex.ConclusionThese finding support the presence of cells expressing HSC transcriptome in the human kidney. The mechanisms of the appearance of the cells with the same transcriptional features during iPSC-derived kidney organoid generation require further investigation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayshwarya Subramanian ◽  
Eriene-Heidi Sidhom ◽  
Maheswarareddy Emani ◽  
Nareh Sahakian ◽  
Katherine Vernon ◽  
...  

AbstractHuman iPSC-derived kidney organoids have the potential to revolutionize discovery, but assessing their consistency and reproducibility across iPSC lines, and reducing the generation of off-target cells remain an open challenge. Here, we used single cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) to profile 415,775 cells to show that organoid composition and development are comparable to human fetal and adult kidneys. Although cell classes were largely reproducible across iPSC lines, time points, protocols, and replicates, cell proportions were variable between different iPSC lines. Off-target cell proportions were the most variable. Prolonged in vitro culture did not alter cell types, but organoid transplantation under the mouse kidney capsule diminished off-target cells. Our work shows how scRNA-seq can help score organoids for reproducibility, faithfulness and quality, that kidney organoids derived from different iPSC lines are comparable surrogates for human kidney, and that transplantation enhances their formation by diminishing off-target cells.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander N. Combes ◽  
Belinda Phipson ◽  
Luke Zappia ◽  
Kynan T. Lawlor ◽  
Pei Xuan Er ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent advances in our capacity to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells to human kidney tissue are moving the field closer to novel approaches for renal replacement. Such protocols have relied upon our current understanding of the molecular basis of mammalian kidney morphogenesis. To date this has depended upon population based-profiling of non-homogenous cellular compartments. In order to improve our resolution of individual cell transcriptional profiles during kidney morphogenesis, we have performed 10x Chromium single cell RNA-seq on over 6000 cells from the E18.5 developing mouse kidney, as well as more than 7000 cells from human iPSC-derived kidney organoids. We identified 16 clusters of cells representing all major cell lineages in the E18.5 mouse kidney. The differentially expressed genes from individual murine clusters were then used to guide the classification of 16 cell clusters within human kidney organoids, revealing the presence of distinguishable stromal, endothelial, nephron, podocyte and nephron progenitor populations. Despite the congruence between developing mouse and human organoid, our analysis suggested limited nephron maturation and the presence of ‘off target’ populations in human kidney organoids, including unidentified stromal populations and evidence of neural clusters. This may reflect unique human kidney populations, mixed cultures or aberrant differentiation in vitro. Analysis of clusters within the mouse data revealed novel insights into progenitor maintenance and cellular maturation in the major renal lineages and will serve as a roadmap to refine directed differentiation approaches in human iPSC-derived kidney organoids.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Liu ◽  
Behram Radmanesh ◽  
Byungha H. Chung ◽  
Michael D. Donnan ◽  
Dan Yi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundDNA variants in APOL1 associate with kidney disease, but the pathophysiological mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Model organisms lack the APOL1 gene, limiting the degree to which disease states can be recapitulated. Here we present single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of genome-edited human kidney organoids as a platform for profiling effects of APOL1 risk variants in diverse nephron cell types.MethodsWe performed footprint-free CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to knock in APOL1 high-risk G1 variants at the native genomic locus. iPSCs were differentiated into kidney organoids, treated with vehicle, IFN-γ, or the combination of IFN-γ and tunicamycin, and analyzed with scRNA-seq to profile cell-specific changes in differential gene expression patterns, compared to isogenic G0 controls.ResultsBoth G0 and G1 iPSCs differentiated into kidney organoids containing nephron-like structures with glomerular epithelial cells, proximal tubules, distal tubules, and endothelial cells. Organoids expressed detectable APOL1 only after exposure to IFN-γ. scRNA-seq revealed cell type-specific differences in G1 organoid response to APOL1 induction. Additional stress of tunicamycin exposure led to increased glomerular epithelial cell dedifferentiation in G1 organoids.ConclusionsSingle-cell transcriptomic profiling of human genome-edited kidney organoids expressing APOL1 risk variants provides a novel platform for studying the pathophysiology of APOL1-mediated kidney disease.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTGaps persist in our mechanistic understanding of APOL1-mediated kidney disease. The authors apply genome-edited human kidney organoids, combined with single-cell transcriptomics, to profile APOL1 risk variants at the native genomic locus in different cell types. This approach captures interferon-mediated induction of APOL1 gene expression and reveals cellular dedifferentiation after a secondary insult of endoplasmic reticulum stress. This system provides a human cellular platform to interrogate complex mechanisms and human-specific regulators underlying APOL1-mediated kidney disease.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haojia Wu ◽  
Kohei Uchimura ◽  
Erinn Donnelly ◽  
Yuhei Kirita ◽  
Samantha A. Morris ◽  
...  

AbstractKidney organoids differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells hold great promise for understanding organogenesis, modeling disease and ultimately as a source of replacement tissue. Realizing the full potential of this technology will require better differentiation strategies based upon knowledge of the cellular diversity and differentiation state of all cells within these organoids. Here we analyze single cell gene expression in 45,227 cells isolated from 23 organoids differentiated using two different protocols. Both generate kidney organoids that contain a diverse range of kidney cells at differing ratios as well as non-renal cell types. We quantified the differentiation state of major organoid kidney cell types by comparing them against a 4,259 single nucleus RNA-seq dataset generated from adult human kidney, revealing immaturity of all kidney organoid cell types. We reconstructed lineage relationships during organoid differentiation through pseudotemporal ordering, and identified transcription factor networks associated with fate decisions. These results define impressive kidney organoid cell diversity, identify incomplete differentiation as a major roadblock for current directed differentiation protocols and provide a human adult kidney snRNA-seq dataset against which to benchmark future progress.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneta Przepiorski ◽  
Veronika Sander ◽  
Tracy Tran ◽  
Jennifer A. Hollywood ◽  
Brie Sorrenson ◽  
...  

SummaryKidney organoids generated from human pluripotent stem cells have the potential to revolutionize how kidney development and injury are studied. Current protocols are technically complex and suffer from poor reproducibility and high reagent costs restricting scalability. To overcome these issues, we have established a simple, inexpensive and robust method to grow kidney organoids in bulk from human induced pluripotent stem cells. Our organoids develop tubular structures by day (d) 8 and show optimal tissue morphology at d14. A comparison with fetal human kidney suggests that d14 organoid renal structures most closely resemble ‘capillary loop’ stage nephrons. We show that deletion of HNF1B, a transcription factor linked to congenital kidney defects, interferes with tubulogenesis, validating our experimental system for studying renal developmental biology. Taken together, our protocol provides a fast, efficient and cost-effective method for generating large quantities of human fetal kidney tissue, enabling the study of normal and aberrant human renal development.


2022 ◽  
pp. ASN.2021050693
Author(s):  
Julie Bejoy ◽  
Eddie Qian ◽  
Lauren Woodard

Acute kidney injury (AKI) affects approximately 13.3 million people around the world each year, causing chronic kidney disease and/or mortality. The mammalian kidney cannot generate new nephrons after postnatal renal damage and regenerative therapies for AKI are not available. Human kidney tissue culture systems can complement animal models of AKI and/or address some of their limitations. Donor-derived somatic cells, such as renal tubule epithelial cells or cell lines (RPTEC/hTERT, ciPTEC, HK-2, Nki-2, and CIHP-1), have been used for decades to permit drug toxicity screening and studies into potential AKI mechanisms. However, tubule cell lines do not fully recapitulate tubular epithelial cell properties in situ when grown under classic tissue culture conditions. Improving tissue culture models of AKI would increase our understanding of the mechanisms, leading to new therapeutics. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) can be differentiated into kidney organoids and various renal cell types. Injury to human kidney organoids results in renal cell type crosstalk and upregulation of kidney injury biomarkers that are difficult to induce in primary tubule cell cultures. However, current protocols produce kidney organoids that aren't mature and contain off-target cell types. Promising bioengineering techniques, such as bioprinting and "kidney-on-a17 chip" methods, as applied to kidney nephrotoxicity modeling advantages and limitations are discussed. This review explores the mechanisms and detection of AKI in tissue culture, with an emphasis on bioengineered approaches such as human kidney organoid models.


2008 ◽  
Vol 182 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Jian Han ◽  
Yun-Fei Lu ◽  
Shun-Ai Li ◽  
Taku Kaitsuka ◽  
Yasufumi Sato ◽  
...  

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that frequently move, divide, and fuse with one another to maintain their architecture and functions. However, the signaling mechanisms involved in these processes are still not well characterized. In this study, we analyze mitochondrial dynamics and morphology in neurons. Using time-lapse imaging, we find that Ca2+ influx through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) causes a rapid halt in mitochondrial movement and induces mitochondrial fission. VDCC-associated Ca2+ signaling stimulates phosphorylation of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) at serine 600 via activation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase Iα (CaMKIα). In neurons and HeLa cells, phosphorylation of Drp1 at serine 600 is associated with an increase in Drp1 translocation to mitochondria, whereas in vitro, phosphorylation of Drp1 results in an increase in its affinity for Fis1. CaMKIα is a widely expressed protein kinase, suggesting that Ca2+ is likely to be functionally important in the control of mitochondrial dynamics through regulation of Drp1 phosphorylation in neurons and other cell types.


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