Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Kidney Organoids for Modeling Epithelial Transport and Injury

Maximizing the potential of human kidney organoids for drug testing, regenerative medicine and to model development and disease requires addressing cell immaturity, the lack of a branching collecting system and the off target cell types. Here we establish methods to independently generate the two kidney progenitor cell populations – metanephric mesenchyme and ureteric bud. Combining these two progenitor cell types results in organoids with an improved branched collecting system. We also identified the hormones aldosterone and arginine vasopressin as critical to promote maturation of collecting duct cell types. The resulting organoids contain the full range of epithelial cells in the nephron, including principal and intercalated cells. By scRNA-seq, we demonstrate superior proximal tubule maturation and reduced off-target cell populations using this protocol.