Micropochka

Japanese scientists have created the first three-dimensional kidney tissue

Tatiana Matveeva, "Scientific Russia"

A research team from Kumamoto University (Japan) has created a complex kidney tissue in the laboratory exclusively from mouse embryonic stem cells. The resulting organoid can pave the way for better organ research and the creation of artificial human kidneys for transplantation, the press service of the university reports. The results of the work are described in the journal Nature Communications (Tanigawa et al., Generation of the organotypic kidney structure by integrating pluripotent stem cell-derived renal stroma).  

Kidneys are a very important organ for health: they work as filters, removing excess water, cleansing the body of toxic substances. It is a complex organ that develops from a combination of three components. Previously, scientists have found a way to get two of them – a nephron precursor and a ureter – from mouse embryonic stem cells. Now the team has reproduced the third component.

In this paper, the researchers focused on the stroma, a type of tissue consisting of various supporting and connective tissues. By combining all three components in vitro, the researchers were able to create the first three-dimensional tissue with a complex architecture, like a real kidney. The organoid consists of highly branched tubules and several other kidney-specific structures.

The team was also able to obtain the first two components from induced human stem cells. If it is also possible to obtain the last component, it will be possible to reproduce a human kidney in the laboratory, among other things.

"Now we are working very hard to create a fully functional human kidney," the authors note. "We hope to use our developments for screening drugs for various diseases, and in the long term for transplantation."

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