Single-cell analysis reveals congruence between kidney organoids and human fetal kidney

single-cell
rna-seq
kidney
organoids
Authors

Alexander N Combes

Luke Zappia

Pei Xuan Er

Alicia Oshlack

Melissa H Little

Date

January 1, 2019

Links
Citation stats
Abstract

Background

Human kidney organoids hold promise for studying development, disease modelling and drug screening. However, the utility of stem cell-derived kidney tissues will depend on how faithfully these replicate normal fetal development at the level of cellular identity and complexity.

Methods

Here, we present an integrated analysis of single cell datasets from human kidney organoids and human fetal kidney to assess similarities and differences between the component cell types.

Results

Clusters in the combined dataset contained cells from both organoid and fetal kidney with transcriptional congruence for key stromal, endothelial and nephron cell type-specific markers. Organoid enriched neural, glial and muscle progenitor populations were also evident. Major transcriptional differences between organoid and human tissue were likely related to technical artefacts. Cell type-specific comparisons revealed differences in stromal, endothelial and nephron progenitor cell types including expression of WNT2B in the human fetal kidney stroma.

Conclusions

This study supports the fidelity of kidney organoids as models of the developing kidney and affirms their potential in disease modelling and drug screening.

Citation

BibTeX citation:
@article{n_combes2019,
  author = {N Combes, Alexander and Zappia, Luke and Xuan Er, Pei and
    Oshlack, Alicia and H Little, Melissa},
  title = {Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Congruence Between Kidney
    Organoids and Human Fetal Kidney},
  journal = {Genome medicine},
  volume = {11},
  number = {1},
  pages = {3},
  date = {2019-01-01},
  url = {https://lazappi.id.au/publications/2019-combes-kidney-organoids/},
  doi = {10.1186/s13073-019-0615-0},
  issn = {1756-994X},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {**Background** Human kidney organoids hold promise for
    studying development, disease modelling and drug screening. However,
    the utility of stem cell-derived kidney tissues will depend on how
    faithfully these replicate normal fetal development at the level of
    cellular identity and complexity. **Methods** Here, we present an
    integrated analysis of single cell datasets from human kidney
    organoids and human fetal kidney to assess similarities and
    differences between the component cell types. **Results** Clusters
    in the combined dataset contained cells from both organoid and fetal
    kidney with transcriptional congruence for key stromal, endothelial
    and nephron cell type-specific markers. Organoid enriched neural,
    glial and muscle progenitor populations were also evident. Major
    transcriptional differences between organoid and human tissue were
    likely related to technical artefacts. Cell type-specific
    comparisons revealed differences in stromal, endothelial and nephron
    progenitor cell types including expression of WNT2B in the human
    fetal kidney stroma. **Conclusions** This study supports the
    fidelity of kidney organoids as models of the developing kidney and
    affirms their potential in disease modelling and drug screening.}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
N Combes, Alexander, Luke Zappia, Pei Xuan Er, Alicia Oshlack, and Melissa H Little. 2019. “Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Congruence Between Kidney Organoids and Human Fetal Kidney.” Genome Medicine 11 (January): 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13073-019-0615-0.