title: [Towards the Clinical Application of iPS Cell Technology for the Treatment of Kidney Diseases].
abstract: In Japan, around 13 million adults have been estimated to suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD), and more than 300 thousand patients with end-stage renal failure are receiving dialysis therapy, causing both medical and medicoeconomic problems. Regenerative medicine strategies using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are among the candidate approaches to solve the problems. The mechanisms of kidney development and cell fate in the development of renal lineage cells have been elucidated using experimental animal models. Based on the knowledge of kidney development, intensive research has already been conducted to generate renal lineage cells from mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, while few reports have been on studies using human iPS/ES cells. Recently, several research groups, including ours, have established methods to differentiate human iPS/ES cells into the intermediate mesoderm, an embryonic germ layer that gives rise to the kidney, and embryonic renal progenitors. Some reports also described the formation of three-dimensional renal tissues, such as renal tubules and glomeruli. Continued efforts are required to elucidate the mechanisms of kidney development and generate renal cells or tissues from human iPS cells, which could open up the new research avenues towards clinical application and practical use to overcome problems associated with kidney disease, such as human embryology, cell therapy, toxicology, drug discovery, and disease modeling.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Osafune
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012038:Regeneration; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*