A Simplified Method for Generating Kidney Organoids from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Summary

Here we describe a protocol to generate kidney organoids from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). This protocol generates kidney organoids within two weeks. The resulting kidney organoids can be cultured in large-scale spinner flasks or multi-well magnetic stir plates for parallel drug-testing approaches.

Abstract

Kidney organoids generated from hPSCs have provided an unlimited source of renal tissue. Human kidney organoids are an invaluable tool for studying kidney disease and injury, developing cell-based therapies, and testing new therapeutics. For such applications, large numbers of uniform organoids and highly reproducible assays are needed. We have built upon our previously published kidney organoid protocol to improve the overall health of the organoids. This simple, robust 3D protocol involves the formation of uniform embryoid bodies in minimum component medium containing lipids, insulin-transferrin-selenium-ethanolamine supplement and polyvinyl alcohol with GSK3 inhibitor (CHIR99021) for 3 days, followed by culture in knock-out serum replacement (KOSR)-containing medium. In addition, agitating assays allows for reduction in clumping of the embryoid bodies and maintaining a uniform size, which is important for reducing variability between organoids. Overall, the protocol provides a fast, efficient, and cost-effective method for generating large quantities of kidney organoids.

Introduction

In recent years, a number of protocols to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells into kidney organoids have been developed^1,2,3,4,5. Kidney organoids have provided an important tool to aid research into new regenerative medicine approaches, model kidney-related diseases, perform toxicity studies and therapeutic drug development. Despite their wide applicability, kidney organoids have limitations such as lack of maturation, limited long-term culture capacity in vitro, and a paucity of several ce....

Protocol

All experiments using hPSCs were performed in compliance with institutional guidelines, and were carried out in a Class II biosafety hood with appropriate personal protective equipment. All reagents are cell culture-grade unless stated otherwise. All cultures are incubated at 37 °C, 5% CO₂ air atmosphere. At all stages of the assay, embryoid bodies or kidney organoids can be collected, and fixed or prepared for analysis. The hPSC lines used to generate this data have been fully characterized and published¹⁸.

1. Preparing culture plates

NOTE: Approximately 1 h prior to splitti....

Results

In this most recent version of our protocol, kidney organoid differentiation is initiated in a defined, low protein medium. The assays are performed entirely in suspension and rely on the innate ability of hPSCs differentiation and organization for initiation of tubulogenesis. A single assay originating from a 100 mm ~60% confluent hPSC culture plate routinely yields 500-1,000 kidney organoids, as shown in our previous publication⁵. Due to such high numbers of organoids generated, this protocol is.......

Discussion

Previous studies have shown that the initial protocol steps are critical for intermediate mesoderm differentiation^5,19,20 and, therefore, it is essential to implement a stringent medium composition at this stage. Removing undefined components such as serum, albumin, protein free hybridoma medium II from the first stage of the protocol may help to improve consistent differentiation efficiency between assays²¹

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
2-Mercaptoethanol	Thermo Fisher	21-985-023
Anti-adherence rinsing solution	STEMCELL Technologies	7010
CHIR99021	STEMCELL Technologies	72054	10 mM stock in DMSO
Corning disposable spinner flasks	Fisher Scientific	07-201-152
Corning Ultra-Low Attachment 6-well plates	Fisher Scientific	07-200-601
Corning Slow-Speed Stirrers	Fisher Scientific	11-495-03	Multi plate magnetic stirrer for spinner flask culture
Dispase	STEMCELL Technologies	7923	Aliquot and freeze
DMEM, low glucose, pyruvate, no glutamine, no phenol red	Thermo Fisher	11054020
DPBS 1x, no calcium, no magnesium	Thermo Fisher	14-190-250
Egg / Oval Stirring Bars	2mag	PI20106
Excelta General-Purpose Tweezers	Fisher Scientific	17-456-103	Keep sterile in the cell culture hood
EZBio Single Use Media Bottle, 250mL	Foxx Life Sciences	138-3211-FLS	Used to make PVA 10%
Falcon Standard Tissue Culture Dishes (100 mm)	Thermo Fisher	08-772E
Fisherbrand Sterile Aspirating Pipet 2mL	Fisher Scientific	14-955-135
Fisherbrand  Cell Lifters - Cell lifter	Fisher Scientific	08-100-240
Fisherbrand Multi Function 3D Rotators	Fisher Scientific	88-861-047	Orbital shaker
Geltrex LDEV-Free Reduced Growth Factor Basement Membrane Matrix	Thermo Fisher	A1413302	BME. Aliquot on ice and freeze. Another suitable matrix alternative is Matrigel or Cultrex.
Gentle Cell Dissociation Reagent	STEMCELL Technologies	7174	GCDR
GlutaMAX Supplement	Thermo Fisher	35-050-061	L-glutamine supplement.
HEPES (1M)	Thermo Fisher	15-630-080
Insulin-Transferrin-Selenium-Ethanolamine	Thermo Fisher	51-500-056	ITSE
KnockOut  Serum Replacement - Multi-Species	Thermo Fisher	A3181502	KOSR. Aliquot and freeze
Lipid Mixture 1, Chemically Defined	Millipore-Sigma	L0288-100ML
MEM Non-Essential Amino Acids Solution	Thermo Fisher	11140-050
MilliporeSigma Stericup Quick Release-GP Sterile Vacuum Filtration System 500mL	Fisher Scientific	S2GPU05RE
MilliporeSigma  Stericup Quick Release-GP Sterile Vacuum Filtration System 250mL	Fisher Scientific	S2GPU02RE
MIXcontrol MTP / Variomag TELEcontrol MTP Control Unit	2mag	VMF 90250 U
MIXdrive 6 MTP / Variomag TELEdrive 6 MTP Microplate Stirring Drive	2mag	VMF 40600	6MSP
MP Biomedicals  7X Cleaning Solution	Fisher Scientific	MP0976670A4	Tissue culture suitable detergent. Make a 5% solution in water
mTeSR1	STEMCELL Technologies	85850	hPSC medium.TeSR-E8, NutriStem XF, and mTeSR Plus medium have also been tested and are suitable alternatives.
Nunc 50 mL Conical, Sterile Centrifuge Tubes	Fisher Scientific	12-565-270
Nunc 15mL Conical Sterile Centrifuge Tubes	Fisher Scientific	12-565-268
Penicillin-Streptomycin	Thermo Fisher	15-140-122	Aliquot and freeze
Plasmocin	Invivogen	ant-mpt	Anti-mycoplasma reagent. Aliquot and freeze
pluriStrainer® 200 µm	Fisher Scientific	NC0776417	Cell strainer
pluriStrainer® 500 µm	Fisher Scientific	NC0822591	Cell strainer
Poly(vinyl alcohol) 87-90% hydrolyzed  (PVA)	Millipore-Sigma	P8136-250G	10% in DPBS stirring at 98 degrees C until disolves, make in 138-3211-FLS
ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 (ROCKi)	STEMCELL Technologies	72304	10 mM stock in DPBS
Sterile Disposable Serological Pipets  - 10mL	Fisher Scientific	13-678-11E
Sterile Disposable Serological Pipets - 25mL	Fisher Scientific	13-678-11
Sterile Disposable Serological pipette - 5 mL	Fisher Scientific	13-678-12D
TeSR-E5	STEMCELL Technologies	5916	Serum-free, low protein base medium for E5-ILP
Variomag distriBOX 2 Distributor	2mag	VMF 90512	If you use more than one MIXdrive