Synopsis

A detailed understanding of how an organ develops at the level of the gene, cell and tissue is critical for both accurate modelling of disease, and advances in regenerative medicine. This has been recently highlighted by advances in the directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to a variety of cell and tissue types. Based on our understanding of kidney morphogenesis in the mouse, we have developed a stepwise differentiation protocol that allows the formation of kidney organoids from human pluripotent stem cells. These contain all of the progenitor populations present in the foetal kidney, including collecting ducts, nephrons, stroma and blood vessels. In this Grand Round, Prof Melissa Little will discuss how the capacity to generate models of the human kidney provides many opportunities, including nephrotoxicity screening, functional genomics, cellular therapies and bioengineering of replacement organs.

Speaker

Professor Melissa Little is the Theme Director of Cell Biology at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, Program Leader of Stem Cells Australia, University of Melbourne and President of the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research. She is internationally recognised for her work on the systems biology of kidney development and also her pioneering studies into potential regenerative therapies for kidney disease. This has resulted in the identification of factors capable of reprogramming to kidney and protocols for the directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to kidney organoids.