Researchers achieve an impressive breakthrough in regenerative medicine: they create artificial kidneys
Scientists at the University of Southern California have succeeded in creating artificial “progenitor” nephron cells to form “renal organoids”.
A team of researchers at the University of Southern California has successfully created tiny artificial kidneys using cells that closely resemble those found in human kidneys. The discovery marks a major step forward in understanding kidney development and the genetic foundations behind renal disease.
Nephron cells are the kidney’s basic working units. They filter blood, regulate water levels, and help produce urine. The USC team managed to generate artificial “progenitor” nephron cells — the cells that eventually form mature nephrons — and used them to build 3D renal organoids, essentially miniature kidneys that mimic key parts of the real organ.
By adjusting the activity of two proteins, p38 and YAP, the scientists were able to make these cells — both mouse and human — multiply for long periods in the lab as stable cell lines. In other words, the cells could keep growing without aging too quickly.
Gateway to treating kidney disease and cancer
The lab‑grown nephron progenitor cells (NPCs) supported sustained growth of both mouse and human stem cells. When researchers examined the nephrons produced by these NPCs, they found they were strikingly similar to real human kidney progenitor cells.
But the team uncovered something even more surprising: podocytes — mature kidney cells responsible for filtering blood inside the nephron — can revert to a state resembling NPCs. That means these fully developed cells can return to a more youthful, progenitor‑like phase.
Lead author Zhongwei Li emphasized the significance of the discovery: “By improving our ability to grow NPCs from human stem cells, we’ve opened a new pathway to understanding and fighting congenital kidney diseases and cancer.”
Li added that the breakthrough could accelerate drug discovery, deepen understanding of the genetic roots of kidney development and disease, and — importantly — provide a reliable supply of nephron progenitor cells as essential building blocks for synthetic kidneys used in future renal‑replacement therapies.
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