Controlled Differentiation of Human and Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells to Kidney Precursors

Every year, patients require transplants or undergo dialysis to treat kidney disease. Therefore, it is increasingly important to develop new therapies to treat kidney disease. My project focuses on understanding kidney development. The long-term goal is to use embryonic stem cell differentiation with co-culture on decellularized kidney matrices to determine if different types of kidney cells can be derived from embryonic stem cells. I have developed a kidney precursor differentiation protocol and determined that a decellularized kidney matrix possesses biomolecules to direct differentiation. The co-culture system I have developed will allow us to study the interaction between kidney cells and the extracellular matrix. This should help us to understand kidney development and aid in the development of cell based therapies for the treatment of kidney disease. The ultimate goal is to generate a three dimensional culture system using stem cells to assess the potential of candidate cells for kidney therapy.MAS