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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Author Spotlight: Integrating Organoid Models with Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Technologies
Published on: March 29, 2024
Kidney and organoid single-cell transcriptomics: the end of the beginning
Parker C Wilson1, Benjamin D Humphreys2,3
1Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine, 660. S Euclid Ave., CB 8118, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Abstract:
Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies are increasingly being applied to reveal cellular heterogeneity in kidney development and disease. In just the last year, multiple scRNA-seq datasets have been generated from kidney organoids, developing mouse and human kidney, adult kidney, and kidney cancer. The data generated enables a much deeper understanding of biological processes within and between cells. It has also elucidated unforeseen cell lineage relationships, defined the presence of off-target cell types in kidney organoids, and revealed a diverse inflammatory response in a human kidney allograft undergoing rejection. This review summarizes the recent rapid progress in scRNA-seq of the kidney and outlines future directions for single-cell technologies as applied to the kidney.
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