Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Renal Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Nat Methods. 2019 Mar;16(3):255-262. doi: 10.1038/s41592-019-0325-y. Epub 2019 Feb 11.
Kidney organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells have glomerular- and tubular-like compartments that are largely avascular and immature in static culture. Here we report an in vitro method for culturing kidney organoids under flow on millifluidic chips, which expands their endogenous pool of endothelial progenitor cells and generates vascular networks with perfusable lumens surrounded by mural cells. We found that vascularized kidney organoids cultured under flow had more mature podocyte and tubular compartments with enhanced cellular polarity and adult gene expression compared with that in static controls. Glomerular vascular development progressed through intermediate stages akin to those involved in the embryonic mammalian kidney's formation of capillary loops abutting foot processes. The association of vessels with these compartments was reduced after disruption of the endogenous VEGF gradient. The ability to induce substantial vascularization and morphological maturation of kidney organoids in vitro under flow opens new avenues for studies of kidney development, disease, and regeneration.
从人类多能干细胞中衍生而来的肾类器官具有肾小球和肾小管样结构,在静态培养中这些结构很大程度上是无血管的且不成熟。在这里,我们报告了一种在微流控芯片上进行肾类器官流动培养的体外方法,该方法可扩大其内源性内皮祖细胞池,并生成具有可灌注管腔的血管网络,这些管腔被壁细胞包围。我们发现,与静态对照组相比,在流动条件下培养的血管化肾类器官具有更成熟的足细胞和肾小管结构,具有增强的细胞极性和成人基因表达。肾小球血管的发育经历了类似于胚胎哺乳动物肾脏中形成与足突相邻的毛细血管环的中间阶段。破坏内源性 VEGF 梯度后,与这些结构的血管关联减少。在体外流动条件下诱导肾类器官大量血管生成和形态成熟的能力为肾脏发育、疾病和再生的研究开辟了新途径。