2019 saw advances in the generation of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived nephron progenitors and in our understanding of how nephrons form in a kidney organoid. Fundamental studies of regeneration in zebrafish continue to provide vital clues as to how we might use iPSC-derived cells to regenerate a human nephron in vivo.
Key advances
Lineage tracing in kidney organoids confirms nephron formation from a SIX2+ progenitor population but shows that nephron formation is temporally limited2.
Optimized culture conditions provide an efficient, broadly applicable method to maintain human nephron progenitors in culture6.
Studies in zebrafish have improved our understanding of the factors that facilitate the fusion of newly formed nephrons to adjacent epithelium7,8.
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References
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Tanigawa, S. et al. Activin is superior to BMP7 for efficient maintenance of human iPSC-derived nephron progenitors. Stem Cell Reports 13, 322–337 (2019).
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Acknowledgements
M.H.L. is a senior principal research fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC; GNT1136085). Her research is supported by the National Institute of Health as part of ReBuilding a Kidney (DK107344) and the NHMRC (GNT1156440 and GNT1098654).
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M.H.L. is an inventor on a patent related to kidney organoid generation and has consulted for and received research funding from Organovo Inc. K.T.L declares no competing interests.
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Little, M.H., Lawlor, K.T. Recreating, expanding and using nephron progenitor populations. Nat Rev Nephrol 16, 75–76 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-019-0238-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-019-0238-0
