Human kidney organoids from stem cells
For the first time researchers have grown human kidney organoids (a synthetic 3D organ culture) from tissue stem cells in the laboratory mirroring human fetal kidney development.
The current model has matured and stayed stable for over a half a year. Previous kidney organoids mimicking development broke down within four weeks. This allows long-term research and medical testing on kidney models.
It is also the purest kidney organoid ever developed, with no cross contamination from stem cell development. Previous models using pluripotent stem cells would develop other cellular structures due to the unstable nature of the stem cells. The new organoid only expresses kidney cells, allowing for clear cause-and-effect experiments.
The groundbreaking study was published in the prestigious medical publication The EMBO Journal.
"Life begins with pluripotent stem cells, which can differentiate into any cell in the body," explains the senior author. "In the past, they were able to grow organoids - 3D organ-like cultures - by producing such general stem cells and sorting them into kidneys, but after about a month the kidney in culture died, and the process had to be started again. About a decade ago, my research group was able to isolate for the first time the human kidney tissue stem cells that are responsible for the growth of the developing organ. Now we have succeeded for the first time in growing a human kidney in the form of an organoid from the specific stem cells of the kidney, and this in parallel with the maturation process in the uterus that occurs until the 34th week of pregnancy."
Researchers grow organoids in laboratory conditions to study organs in ways that are not possible in humans, but organoids derived from pluripotent stem cells often contain unwanted cells unrelated to the organ being studied that contaminate experiment data. These cells developed into different types of kidney cells, and over half a year formed different tissues of the kidney, such as blood filter cells and kidney and urinary ducts, a process known as tubulogenesis.
"Growing the fetal kidney structures can shed new light on biological processes in general, and in particular on processes that lead to kidney diseases," says the author. "And indeed, when we selectively blocked a certain signaling pathways [in the organoid], we saw how it lead to a birth defect. We are actually seeing live how a developmental problem leads to kidney diseases that are seen in the clinic, which will enable the development of innovative treatments."
The implications that go far beyond research. "The fact that we can grow kidney tissue stem cells outside the body over time opens the door to regenerative medicine, that is, transplanting kidney tissue grown in the laboratory – inside the body or alternatively harnessing signals the organoid secrets for repair and rejuvenation of a damaged kidney ,” said the author. “We now have an essentially inexhaustible source of different kidney cells, and a better understanding of their different roles in kidney development and function.”
https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-025-00504-2
https://sciencemission.com/Human-fetal-kidney-organoids-model
