What is it about?
This study shows that specialized kidney progenitor cells can be isolated directly from human urine and grown in the laboratory as three-dimensional cell clusters called spheroids. Remarkably, these spheroids are able to spontaneously form long, tube-like structures that closely resemble parts of the kidney nephron, without the need for artificial stimulation with growth factors or complex differentiation protocols. The structures express key markers of functional kidney tubules and show biological activities typical of mature renal tissue. Importantly, when progenitor cells are obtained from patients with IgA nephropathy, the resulting spheroids can reproduce disease-specific IgA deposits in vitro. This work introduces a simple, patient-specific and non-invasive model to study kidney biology, disease mechanisms and regenerative approaches.
Featured Image
Photo by Marek Pavlík on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Current kidney organoid and tubuloid models require complex protocols, expensive growth factors and long differentiation timelines. In contrast, this study demonstrates a natural and self-organized process driven entirely by adult renal progenitor cells, which can be obtained non-invasively from urine. This approach makes kidney 3D models more accessible, reproducible and clinically relevant. The ability to generate patient-specific spheroids that recapitulate diseases such as IgA nephropathy opens new opportunities for personalized medicine, drug testing and the study of renal regeneration and pathology in a controlled human-based system.
Perspectives
This work reflects our long-standing interest in the regenerative potential of adult renal progenitor cells and in developing clinically translatable models of kidney disease. One of the most exciting aspects was discovering that these cells can self-organize into complex tubule-like structures without any external manipulation. Equally important for us was showing that cells isolated from patients’ urine can reproduce key disease features, reinforcing the idea that non-invasive, patient-specific kidney models are feasible. We hope this study encourages wider adoption of simple, biologically driven systems for kidney research and accelerates their translation toward personalized and regenerative therapies.
Fabio Sallustio
Universita degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Unveiling spontaneous renal tubule-like structures from human adult renal progenitor cell spheroids derived from urine, Stem Cells Translational Medicine, March 2025, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/stcltm/szaf002.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
