Shaping the kidney: Engineering advanced in vitro models for studying renal function in health and disease

Abstract

The development of advanced kidney systems has been challenging, due to the cellular, structural and functional complexity of the nephron. To date, complex models of the glomerulus and proximal tubule, the major functional subunits of the nephron, have been developed using a.o. on-a-chip, organoids and 3D scaffolding approaches. The overarching aim of this thesis is to develop new models of the glomerular filtration barrier and proximal tubule that can be applied in nephrotoxicity testing and disease modeling. To do so, the focus is set on understanding and incorporating topographical stimuli that stir kidney cell behavior, thereby guiding the engineering of glomerular and proximal tubule tissue replicates.