Publications

Human pluripotent stem cell -derived kidney organoids offer unprecedented opportunities for studying polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which still has no effective cure. Here, we developed both in vitro and in vivo organoid models of PKD that manifested tubular injury and aberrant upregulation of renin-angiotensin aldosterone system. Single -cell analysis revealed that a myriad of metabolic changes occurred during cystogenesis, including defective autophagy. Experimental activation of autophagy via ATG5 overexpression or primary cilia ablation significantly inhibited cystogenesis in PKD kidney organoids. Employing the organoid xenograft model of PKD, which spontaneously developed tubular cysts, we demonstrate that minoxidil, a potent autophagy activator and an FDA -approved drug, effectively attenuated cyst formation in vivo. This in vivo organoid model of PKD will enhance our capability to discover novel disease mechanisms and validate candidate drugs for clinical translation.

JTD Keywords: Adenylate kinase, Adult, Animal cell, Animal experiment, Animal model, Animal tissue, Article, Autophagosome, Autophagy, Autophagy (cellular), Autosomal-dominant, Calcium homeostasis, Cilia, Cilium, Cohort analysis, Controlled study, Cyclic amp, Disease, Dominant polycystic kidney, Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, Epithelium, Exon, Expression, Female, Food and drug administration, Framework, Generation, Growth, Hepatitis a virus cellular receptor 1, Human, Human cell, Humans, Immunohistochemistry, In vitro study, In vivo study, Kidney, Kidney organoid, Kidney polycystic disease, Male, Minoxidil, Mouse, Mutations, Nonhuman, Organoid, Organoids, Platelet derived growth factor beta receptor, Pluripotent stem-cells, Polycystic kidney diseases, Protein kinase lkb1, Renin, Sequestosome 1, Single cell analysis, Single cell rna seq, Small nuclear rna, Tunel assay, Upregulation, Western blotting, Whole exome sequencing

Visual impairments are a critical medical hurdle to be addressed in modern society. Müller glia (MG) have regenerative potential in the retina in lower vertebrates, but not in mammals. However, in mice, in vivo cell fusion between MG and adult stem cells forms hybrids that can partially regenerate ablated neurons.We used organotypic cultures of human retina and preparations of dissociated cells to test the hypothesis that cell fusion between human MG and adult stem cells can induce neuronal regeneration in human systems. Moreover, we established a microinjection system for transplanting human retinal organoids to demonstrate hybrid differentiation.We first found that cell fusion occurs between MG and adult stem cells, in organotypic cultures of human retina as well as in cell cultures. Next, we showed that the resulting hybrids can differentiate and acquire a proto-neural electrophysiology profile when the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is activated in the adult stem cells prior fusion. Finally, we demonstrated the engraftment and differentiation of these hybrids into human retinal organoids.We show fusion between human MG and adult stem cells, and demonstrate that the resulting hybrid cells can differentiate towards neural fate in human model systems. Our results suggest that cell fusion-mediated therapy is a potential regenerative approach for treating human retinal dystrophies.This work was supported by La Caixa Health (HR17-00231), Velux Stiftung (976a) and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, (BFU2017-86760-P) (AEI/FEDER, UE), AGAUR (2017 SGR 689, 2017 SGR 926).Published by Elsevier B.V.

JTD Keywords: cell fusion, expression, fusion, ganglion-cells, in-vitro, mouse, müller glia, neural differentiation, organoids, regeneration, retina regeneration, stem cells, stromal cells, transplantation, 4',6 diamidino 2 phenylindole, 5' nucleotidase, Agarose, Alcohol, Arpe-19 cell line, Article, Beta catenin, Beta tubulin, Bone-marrow-cells, Bromophenol blue, Buffer, Calcium cell level, Calcium phosphate, Calretinin, Canonical wnt signaling, Cd34 antigen, Cell culture, Cell fusion, Cell viability, Coculture, Complementary dna, Confocal microscopy, Cornea transplantation, Cryopreservation, Cryoprotection, Crystal structure, Current clamp technique, Dimethyl sulfoxide, Dodecyl sulfate sodium, Edetic acid, Electrophysiology, Endoglin, Fetal bovine serum, Fibroblast growth factor 2, Flow cytometry, Fluorescence activated cell sorting, Fluorescence intensity, Glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase, Glycerol, Glycine, Hoe 33342, Immunofluorescence, Immunohistochemistry, Incubation time, Interleukin 1beta, Lentivirus vector, Matrigel, Mercaptoethanol, Microinjection, Mueller cell, Müller glia, N methyl dextro aspartic acid, Nerve cell differentiation, Neural differentiation, Nitrogen, Nonhuman, Organoids, Paraffin, Paraffin embedding, Paraformaldehyde, Patch clamp technique, Penicillin derivative, Phenolsulfonphthalein, Phenotype, Phosphate buffered saline, Phosphoprotein phosphatase inhibitor, Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Potassium chloride, Povidone iodine, Promoter region, Proteinase inhibitor, Real time polymerase chain reaction, Receptor type tyrosine protein phosphatase c, Restriction endonuclease, Retina, Retina dystrophy, Retina regeneration, Retinol, Rhodopsin, Rna extraction, Stem cell, Stem cells, Subcutaneous fat, Tunel assay, Visual impairment, Western blotting