© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 193
T. Tsuji (ed.), Organ Regeneration Based on Developmental Biology,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-3768-9_11
Chapter 11
Recapitulating Development to Generate
Kidney Organoid Cultures
Melissa H. Little, Minoru Takasato, Joanne Y.-C. Soo, and Thomas A. Forbes
Abstract Evidence of the successful recreation of kidney cell types via the directed
differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells adds the kidney to the list of tissues
for which this approach to tissue regeneration is becoming feasible. Arguably, the
kidney is one of the most complex organs to recapitulate in vitro with the final adult
organ containing more than 25 distinct cell types playing a diverse number of dis-
tinct functional roles. This organ also has a heavy reliance upon the architectural
accuracy of the component cellular structures as well as their appropriate co-
localisation and interaction with surrounding cell types. Here we will focus on the
generation of complex multicellular kidney organoids in vitro and examine both the
rationale for the protocol developed, the advantages of a complex kidney organoid
and the short- and long-term applications of such an approach.
Keywords Kidney development • Pluripotent stem cell • Directed differentiation •
Organoid • Mesodermal patterning
M.H. Little (*) • J.Y.-C. Soo
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Rd, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Takasato
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Rd, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0045, Japan
T.A. Forbes
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Rd, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Royal Children’s Hospital, Flemington Rd, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia