Recapitulating kidney development: progress and challenges

Abstract Decades of research into the molecular and cellular regulation of kidneymorphogenesis in rodent models, particularly the mouse, has provided both an atlas of the mammalian kidneyand a roadmap for recreating kidneycell types with potential applications for the treatment of kidneydisease. With advances in both our capacity to maintain nephronprogenitors in culture, reprogram to kidneycell types and direct the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to kidneyendpoints, renal regeneration via cellular therapy or tissue engineeringmay be possible. Human kidneymodels also have potential for disease modelling and drug screening. Such applications will rely upon the accuracy of the model at the cellular level and the capacity for stem-cell derived kidneytissue to recapitulate both normal and diseased kidneytissue. In this review, we will discuss the available cell sources, how well they model the human kidneyand how far we are from application either as models or for tissue engineering.