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Isogenic Kidney Glomerulus Chip Engineered from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
In This Article
Summary
Presented here is a protocol to engineer a personalized organ-on-a-chip system that recapitulates the structure and function of the kidney glomerular filtration barrier by integrating genetically matched epithelial and vascular endothelial cells differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells. This bioengineered system can advance kidney precision medicine and related applications.
Abstract
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 15% of the U.S. adult population, but the establishment of targeted therapies has been limited by the lack of functional models that can accurately predict human biological responses and nephrotoxicity. Advancements in kidney precision medicine could help overcome these limitations. However, previously established in vitro models of the human kidney glomerulus-the primary site for blood filtration and a key target of many diseases and drug toxicities-typically employ heterogeneous cell populations with limited functional characteristics and unmatched genetic backgrounds. These characteristics significantly limit their application for patient-specific disease modeling and therapeutic discovery.
This paper presents a protocol that integrates human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived glomerular epithelium (podocytes) and vascular endothelium from a single patient to engineer an isogenic and vascularized microfluidic kidney glomerulus chip. The resulting glomerulus chip is comprised of stem cell-derived endothelial and epithelial cell layers that express lineage-specific markers, produce basement membrane proteins, and form a tissue-tissue interface resembling the kidney's glomerular filtration barrier. The engineered glomerulus chip selectively filters molecules and recapitulates drug-induced kidney injury. The ability to reconstitute the structure and function of the kidney glomerulus using isogenic cell types creates the opportunity to model kidney disease with patient specificity and advance the utility of organs-on-chips for kidney precision medicine and related applications.
Introduction
Organ-on-a-chip devices are dynamic 3D in vitro models that employ molecular and mechanical stimulation, as well as vascularization, to form tissue-tissue interfaces that model the structure and function of specific organs. Previously established organ-on-a-chip devices that aimed to recapitulate the kidney's glomerulus (glomerulus chips) consisted of animal cell lines1 or human primary and immortalized cell lines of heterogeneous sources2,3. The use of genetically heterogeneous cell sources present variations that significantly limit the studies of patient-specific respons....
Protocol
1. Prepare basement membrane matrix solutions and coated substrates
- Thaw basement membrane matrix 1 overnight on ice at 4 °C. Aliquot according to the manufacturer's suggestion for dilution ratio. Using a 50 mL conical tube and pipette, thoroughly mix an appropriate amount of basement membrane matrix 1 into 25 mL of cold DMEM/F12 until completely thawed and dissolved.
- To dissolve a frozen aliquot, take ~200 µL from the 25 mL of cold DMEM/F12 and transfer it to the fr.......
Representative Results
Here we show that a functional 3D in vitro model of the glomerulus can be vascularized and epithelialized from an isogenic source of human iPS cells. Specifically, this protocol provides instructions on how to apply human iPS cell technology, particularly their ability to differentiate into specialized cell types, to generate kidney glomerular epithelium (podocytes) and vascular endothelium (viECs) that can be integrated with microfluidic devices to model the structure and function of the human kidney at the pat.......
Discussion
In this report, we outline a protocol to derive vascular endothelium and glomerular epithelium (podocytes) from an isogenic human iPS cell line and the use of these cells to engineer a 3D organ-on-a-chip system that mimics the structure, tissue-tissue interface, and molecular filtration function of the kidney glomerulus. This glomerulus chip is outfitted with endothelium and glomerular epithelium that, together, provide a barrier to selectively filter molecules.
Researchers interested in adap.......
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Pratt school of Engineering at Duke University, the Division of Nephrology at Duke Department of Medicine, a Whitehead Scholarship in Biomedical Research, and a Genentech Research Award for S. Musah. Y. Roye is a recipient of the Duke University-Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Scholarship and William M. "Monty" Reichert Graduate Fellowship from Duke University's Department of Biomedical Engineering. The DU11 (Duke University clone #11) iPS cell line was generated at the Duke iPSC Core Facility and provided to us by the Bursac Lab at Duke University. The authors thank N. Abutaleb, J. Holmes, R. Bhattacharya, and Y. Zhou for technic....
Materials
| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
| Antibodies | |||
| Alexa Fluor 488- and Alexa Fluor 594-conjugated secondary antibodies | Thermo/Life Technologies | A32744; A32754; A-11076; A32790; A21203; A11015 | |
| Collagen IV | Thermo/Life Technologies | 14-9871-82 | |
| Nephrin | Progen | GP-N2 | |
| PECAM-1 | R&D Systems | AF806 | |
| Podocin | Abcam | ab50339 | |
| VE-Cadherin | Santa Cruz | sc-9989 | |
| Basement membrane matrices | |||
| Corning Fibronectin, Human | Corning | 356008 | Basement membrane (3) |
| iMatrix-511 Laminin-E8 (LM-E8) fragment | Iwai North America | N8922012 | Basement membrane matrix (2) |
| Matrigel hESC-qualified matrix, 5-mL vial | BD Biosciences | 354277 | Basement membrane matrix (1); may show lot-to-lot variation |
| Cells | |||
| DU11 human iPS cells | The DU11 (Duke University clone #11) iPS cell line was generated at the Duke iPSC Core Facility and provided to us by the Bursac Lab at Duke University. The line has been tested and found to be free of mycoplasma (last test in November 2021) and karyotype abnormalities (July 2019) | ||
| Culture medium growth factors and media supplements | |||
| 0.5M EDTA, pH 8.0 | Invitrogen | 15575020 | |
| 2-Mercaptoethanol | Thermo/Life Technologies | 21985023 | |
| Albumin from Bovine serum, Texas Red conjugate | Thermo/Life Technologies | A23017 | |
| All-trans retinoic acid (500 mg) | Stem Cell Technologies | 72262 | |
| B27 serum-free supplement | Thermo/Life Technologies | 17504044 | |
| B-27 supplement (50x) without Vitamin A | Thermo/Life Technologies | 12587010 | |
| Bovine serum albumin | Sigma-Aldrich | A9418 | |
| CHIR99021 | Stemgent | 04-0004 | May show lot-to-lot variation |
| Complete medium kit with CultureBoost-R | Cell Systems | 4Z0-500-R | Podocyte maintenance media |
| DMEM/F12 | Thermo/Life Technologies | 12634028 | |
| DMEM/F12 with GlutaMAX supplement | Thermo/Life Technologies | 10565042 | DMEM/F12 with glutamine |
| Forskolin (Adenylyl cyclase activator) | Abcam | ab120058 | |
| GlutaMAX supplement | Thermo/Life Technologies | 35050061 | glutamine supplement |
| Heat-inactivated FBS | Thermo/Life Technologies | 10082147 | |
| Heparin solution | Stem Cell Technologies | 7980 | |
| Human Activin A | Thermo/Life Technologies | PHC9544 | |
| Human BMP4 | Preprotech | 120-05ET | |
| Human BMP7 | Thermo/Life Technologies | PHC9544 | |
| Human VEGF | Thermo/Life Technologies | PHC9394 | |
| Inulin-FITC | Sigma-Aldrich | F3272 | |
| mTeSR1 medium | Stem Cell Technologies | 05850 | Human iPS cell culture media (CCM). Add 5x supplement according to the manufacturer. Human iPS CCM can be stored for up to 6 months at -20 °C. |
| N-2 Supplement (100x) | Thermo/Life Technologies | 17502048 | |
| Neurobasal media | Thermo/Life Technologies | 21103049 | Lateral mesoderm basal media |
| PBS (Phosphate-buffered saline) | Thermo/Life Technologies | 14190-250 | |
| Penicillin-streptomycin, liquid (100x) | Thermo/Life Technologies | 15140-163 | |
| ROCK inhibitor (Y27632) | Tocris | 1254 | |
| StemPro-34 SFM | Thermo/Life Technologies | 10639011 | Endothelial cell culture medium (CCM). Add supplement according to manufacturer. Endothelial CCM can be stored for up to two weeks at 4 °C or -20 °C for up to 6 months. |
| TGF-Beta inhibitor (SB431542) | Stem Cell Technologies | 72234 | |
| Enzymes and other reagents | |||
| Accutase | Thermo/Life Technologies | A1110501 | Cell detachment buffer |
| Dimethyl Suloxide (DMSO) | Sigma-Aldrich | D2438 | |
| Ethanol solution, 70% (vol/vol), biotechnology grade | VWR | 97065-058 | |
| Paraformaldehyde (PFA) | Thermo/Life Technologies | 28906 | |
| Sterile distilled water | Thermo/Life Technologies | 15230162 | |
| Triton X-100 | VWR | 97062-208 | |
| Equipment | |||
| Trypsin EDTA, 0.05% | Thermo/Life Technologies | 25300-120 | |
| (Orb) Hub module | Emulate | ORB-HM1 | |
| 100mm x 15 mm round petri dish | Fisherbrand | FB087579B | |
| 120 x 120 mm square cell culture dish | VWR | 688161 | |
| Accuri C6 | BD Biosciences | ||
| Aspirating pipettes, individually wrapped | Corning | 29442-462 | |
| Aspirating Unit | SP Bel-Art | F19917-0150 | |
| Avanti J-15R Centrifuge | Beckman Coulter | B99516 | |
| Conical centrifuge tube, 15 mL | Corning | 352097 | |
| Conical centrifuge tube, 50 mL | Corning | 352098 | |
| EVOS M7000 | Thermo/Life Technologies | AMF7000 | Fluorescent microscope to take images of fixed and stained cells. |
| Hemocytometer | VWR | 100503-092 | |
| Heracell VIOS 160i CO2 incubator | Thermo/Life Technologies | 51030403 | |
| Inverted Zeiss Axio Observer equipeed with AxioCam 503 camera | Carl Zeiss Micrscopy | 491916-0001-000(microscope) ; 426558-0000-000(camera) | |
| Kimberly-Clark nitrile gloves | VWR | 40101-346 | |
| Kimwipes, large | VWR | 21905-049 | |
| Leoca SP8 Upright Confocal Microscope | |||
| Media reservoir (POD Portable Module) | Emulate | POD-1 | |
| Microplate shaker | VWR | 12620-926 | |
| Organ-chip | Emulate | S-1 Chip | |
| Organ-chip holder | Emulate | AK-CCR | |
| P10 precision barrier pipette tips | Denville Scientific | P1096-FR | |
| P100 barrier pipette tips | Denville Scientific | P1125 | |
| P1000 barrier pipette tips | Denville Scientific | P1121 | |
| P20 barrier pipette tips | Denville Scientific | P1122 | |
| P200 barrier pipette tips | Denville Scientific | P1122 | |
| Plasma Asher | Quorum tech | K1050X RF | This Plasma Etcher/Asher/Cleaner was used as a part of Duke University's Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility (SMiF). |
| Round bottom polystyrene test tube with cell strainer snap cap | Corning | 352235 | |
| Serological pipette, 10 mL, indivdually wrapped | Corning | 356551 | |
| Serological pipette, 25 mL, indivdually wrapped | Corning | 356525 | |
| Serological pipette, 5 mL, indivdually wrapped | Corning | 356543 | |
| Steriflip, 0.22 µm, PES | EMD Millipore | SCGP00525 | |
| Sterile Microcentrifuge tubes | Thomas Scientific | 1138W14 | |
| T75cm2 cell culture flask with vent cap | Corning | 430641U | |
| Tissue culture-treated 12 well plates | Corning | 353043 | |
| Tissue culture-treated 6 well plates | Corning | 353046 | |
| Vacuum modulator and perstaltic pump (Zoe Culture Module) | Emulate | ZOE-CM1 | Organ Chip Bioreactor |
| VE-Cadherin CD144 anti-human antibody - APC conjugated | Miltenyi Biotec | 130-126-010 | |
| Wide-beveled cell lifter | Corning | 3008 | |
| MACS | |||
| CD144 MicroBeads, human | Miltenyi Biotec | 130-097-857 | |
| CD31 MicroBead Kit, human | Miltenyi Biotec | 130-091-935 | |
| LS columns | Miltenyi Biotec | 130-042-401 |
References
- Wang, L., et al. A disease model of diabetic nephropathy in a glomerulus-on-a-chip microdevice. Lab on a Chip. 17 (10), 1749-1760 (2017).
- Musah, S., et al.
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