Generation of a human induced pluripotent stem cell line (UMGACBi001-A) from urine cells of a chronic kidney disease patient with hypertension, diabetic nephropathy and acute sepsis

Chronic kidney disease is a major public health burden associated with a drastically reduced quality of living and life span that lacks suitable, individualized therapeutic strategies. Here we present a human induced pluripotent stem cell line (iPSC, UMGACBi001-A) reprogrammed from urine cells of an acute septic dialysis patient suffering from chronic kidney disease using non-integrating administration of RNAs. The generated iPSCs were positively characterized for typical morphology, pluripotency marker expression, directed differentiation potential, non-contamination, chromosomal consistency and donor identity. This iPSC-line can be a useful source for in vitro disease modelling and individualized therapeutic approaches.

Super-Resolution Microscopy: A Technique to Revolutionize Research and Diagnosis of Glomerulopathies

Background

For decades, knowledge about glomerular (patho)physiology has been tightly linked with advances in microscopic imaging technology. For example, the invention of electron microscopy was required to hypothesize about the mode of glomerular filtration barrier function.

Summary

Super-resolution techniques, defined as fluorescence microscopy approaches that surpass the optical resolution limit of around 200 nm, have been made available to the scientific community. Several of these different techniques are currently in use in glomerular research. Using three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy, the exact morphology of the podocyte filtration slit can be morphometrically analyzed and quantitatively compared across samples originating from animal models or human biopsies.

Key Messages

Several quantitative image analysis approaches and their potential influence on glomerular research and diagnostics are discussed. By improving not only optical resolution but also information content and turnaround time, super-resolution microscopy has the potential to expand the diagnosis of glomerular disease. Soon, these approaches could be introduced into glomerular disease diagnosis.