Thousands of people are on the waitinglist for a donor kidney, but there are not enough donor organs available. Stem cell research could provide an new approach. In the lab, we use stem cells to grow mini kidneys in the lab. These mini kidneys contain important kidney components such as filtering units that remove waste from the blood. By studying and improving these mini kidneys, we can learn more about kidney disease, test new treatments, and work toward future therapies that may one day provide an alternative to donor kidneys.
reNEW research
Growing a fully developed mini kidney from stem cells in the lab remains a major challenge. Although blood vessels form within these mini kidneys, they do not fully develop because of a lack of blood flow. When mini kidneys are transplanted, communication between cells guides blood vessels into the kidney’s filtering untis. By using immunofluorescence stainings and creating 3D reconstructions we study these cellular conversations to understand how blood vessels grow and how they help developing working filtering units.
Image description
A 3D reconstruction of the kidney’s filtering units with integrated blood vessels (green).
Credits
Rianne van Nieuwland,research technician, Rabelink lab, reNEW Leiden.
Fangchen Liu, PhD student, Rabelink lab, reNEW Leiden.
