800 million people worldwide are affected by kidney disease, but current treatment options for patients with late-stage disease are limited to dialysis or kidney transplant. With patients facing reduced quality of life and long wait times for transplants, alternative treatments are required. We aim to engineer kidney tissue in a dish to help improve outcomes for these patients. However, as the kidney is a complex organ with a multitude of cell types all working together as a functional unit, building a “mini-kidney” is tricky.
reNEW research
We utilize knowledge of early human development to engineer stem cells into 3D models of the kidney. This means we can re-create the complexity of the tissue without using animals. Stem cells can become almost any cell type in the body, by carefully selecting what we treat them with. Our micro-organoid model allows us flexibility and scalability for experimentation, and we are currently working on maturating the system. We hope to use this platform to improve treatment options for patients waiting for a kidney transplant.
Image description
Kidney micro organoids are a scalable model of kidney tissue. Up-close we can identify specialised kidney cell types.
Credits
Hannah Baric, Research Assistant, Little Lab, reNEW Melbourne.
Dr Allara Zylberberg, Research Officer, Little Lab, reNEW Melbourne.
