Biology subjects

Vonk, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Vonk, A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Modeling kidney development, disease, and plasticity with clonal expandable nephron progenitor cells and nephron organoids

Nephron progenitor cells (NPCs) self-renew and differentiate into nephrons, the functional units of the kidney. Here we report manipulation of p38 and YAP activity creates a synthetic niche that allows the long-term clonal expansion of primary mouse and human NPCs, and induced NPCs (iNPCs) from human pluripotent stem cells. Cultured iNPCs resemble closely primary human NPCs, generating nephron organoids with abundant distal convoluted tubule cells, which are not observed in published kidney organoids. The synthetic niche reprograms differentiated nephron cells into NPC state, recapitulating the plasticity of developing nephron in vivo. Scalability and ease of genome-editing in the cultured NPCs allow for genome-wide CRISPR screening, identi-fying novel genes associated with kidney development and disease. A rapid, efficient, and scala-ble organoid model for polycystic kidney disease was derived directly from genome-edited NPCs, and validated in drug screen. These technological platforms have broad applications to kidney development, disease, plasticity, and regeneration.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2022

High-Throughput Functional Assay in Cystic Fibrosis Patient-Derived Organoids Allows Drug Repurposing

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare hereditary disease caused by mutations in the CFTR gene. Recent therapies enable effective restoration of CFTR function of the most common F508del CFTR mutation. This shifts the unmet clinical need towards people with rare CFTR mutations such as nonsense mutations, of which G542X and W1282X are most prevalent. CFTR function measurements in patient-derived cell-based assays played a critical role in preclinical drug development for CF and may play an important role to identify new drugs for people with rare CFTR mutations. Here, we miniaturized the previously described forskolin induced swelling (FIS) assay in intestinal organoids from a 96-wells to a 384-wells plate screening format. Using this novel assay, we tested CFTR increasing potential of a 1400-compound FDA-approved drug library in organoids from donors with W1282X/W1282X CFTR nonsense mutations. The 384-wells FIS-assay demonstrated uniformity and robustness based on CV and Z-factor calculations. In the primary screen, the top 5 compound combinations that increased CFTR function all contained at least one statin. In the secondary screen, we indeed verified that four out of the five statins, Mevastatin; Lovastatin; Simvastatin and Fluvastatin increased CFTR function when combined with CFTR modulators. Statin-induced CFTR rescue was W1282X specific, as increased CFTR function was not shown for patient-derived organoids harbouring R334W/R334W and F508del/F508del mutations. Future studies should focus on elucidating genotype specificity and mode-of-action of statins into more detail. This study exemplifies proof-of-principle of large-scale compound screening in a functional assay using patient derived organoids. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=169 SRC="FIGDIR/small/500147v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (38K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@fccbfdorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@b459ceorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@7414fborg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@10d9c35_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Generation of kidney ureteric bud and collecting duct organoids that recapitulate kidney branching morphogenesis

Kidney organoids model development and diseases of the nephron but not the contiguous epithelial network of the kidneys collecting duct (CD) system. Here, we report the generation of an expandable, 3D branching ureteric bud (UB) organoid culture model that can be derived from primary UB progenitors from mouse and human fetal kidneys, or generated de novo from pluripotent human stem cells. UB organoids differentiate into CD organoids in vitro, with differentiated cell types adopting spatial assemblies reflective of the adult kidney collecting system. Aggregating 3D-cultured nephron progenitor cells with UB organoids in vitro results in a reiterative process of branching morphogenesis and nephron induction, similar to kidney development. Combining efficient gene editing with the UB organoid model will facilitate an enhanced understanding of development, regeneration and diseases of the mammalian collecting system. One sentence summaryCollecting duct organoids derived from primary mouse and human ureteric bud progenitor cells and human pluripotent stem cells provide an in vitro platform for genetic dissection of development, regeneration and diseases of the mammalian collecting system.

developmental biology↗