An Air-Liquid Interface Culture System for 3D Kidney tissues

The kidney is a complex organ, comprised of different types of cell types, each with specific structural and functional characteristics. To date, the study of molecular mechanisms underlying renal diseases and renal cellular pathways has been mostly limited to use of monolayer cell culture and adult kidney or IPSC derived organoid culture. While both contribute to forwarding the knowledge in the field, they are unable to represent the physiological network in the intricate kidney structure. The ability to maintain long term cultured kidney tissue in vitro has not yet been established.

Here we present an innovative 3D culture method for sustaining kidney tissue structures ex vivo. The technique is based on combining patient kidney samples processed into small pieces incubated with kidney-specific medium in an air-liquid interface (ALI). We observe that the cultured tissue`s borders start to expand into the 3D matrix, all the while maintaining the integrity of the internal tissue structure for multiple weeks. Immunostaining of the ex-vivo cultures revealed presence of renal distal and proximal tubules, as well as glomerular structures containing podocytes and endothelial cells, all structurally intact.

In conclusion, ALI adult kidney tissue culture can be established with high efficiency, allowing modeling of human adult kidney structures ex vivo. These cultures can potentially be used to model pathogenic mechanisms and discover new drugs for multiple types of kidney disease.