Transcriptomic Signatures of Kidney Injury in Human Renal Biopsy Specimens

The gene expression signature of the human kidney interstitium is not fully understood. Transcript expression of laser microdissected cortical interstitium (excluding tubules, glomeruli and large vessels) in 9 human reference nephrectomies was compared to 6 human diabetic kidney biopsy specimens. This transcriptomic data revealed novel interstitial markers and enrichment of relevant pathways. Analysis of diabetic interstitium uncovered genes with unchanged as well as down-regulated expression when compared to reference samples. Laser microdissection (LMD) methodology enables collection of transcriptomic data associated with renal interstitium to aid in interpretation of pathophysiology and precision medicine studies. Overall design: Bulk 20 um thickness specimens from cross-sectional human kidney biopsies or nephrectomies embedded in OCT underwent RNA sequencing. All biopsy subjects had AKI.