Abstract
The kidney is among the most complex organs in terms of the variety of cell types. The cellular complexity of human kidneys is not fully unraveled and this challenge is further complicated by the existence of multiple progenitor pools and differentiation pathways. Researchers disagree on the variety of renal cell types due to a lack of research providing a comprehensive picture and the challenge to translate findings between species. To find an answer to the number of human renal cell types, we discuss research that used single-cell RNA sequencing on developing and adult human kidney tissue and compares these findings to the literature of the pre-single-cell RNA sequencing era. We find that these publications show major steps towards the discovery of novel cell types and intermediate cell stages as well as complex molecular signatures and lineage pathways throughout development. The variety of cell types remains variable in the single-cell literature, which is due to the limitations of the technique. Nevertheless, our analysis approaches an accumulated number of 41 identified cell populations of renal lineage and 32 of non-renal lineage in the adult kidney, and there is certainly much more to discover. There is still a need for a consensus on a variety of definitions and standards in single-cell RNA sequencing research, such as the definition of what is a cell type. Nevertheless, this early-stage research already proves to be of significant impact for both clinical and regenerative medicine, and shows potential to enhance the generation of sophisticated in vitro kidney tissue.
Highlights
The kidney is among the most complex organs in terms of the variety of cell types
Due to the aforementioned shortcomings, clinicians and scientists aim to understand hurdles such as kidney development and regeneration, factors involved in kidney failure and disease, how to improve survival on dialysis and prevent donor tissue rejection
Joint forces of engineers, material scientists, and biologists are working worldwide on artificial and bioengineered kidneys as a replacement for current dialyses. They have made major advances in the de- and re-cellularization of rodent and human kidneys[3], renal tubule assist devices[6], lightweight miniaturized kidneys[7], and implantable bioartificial devices[7] and tissues[8], among others. All these approaches would benefit from a greater understanding of the cellular and molecular composition of developing an adult kidney
Summary
We anticipate that the common progenitor is a starting point for more sophisticated research to investigate the role of PECs in injury and cells, located in the visceral part of the proximal segment of the SSB, follows the podocyte trajectory while expressing a distinct set of markers in the SSB phase until the capillary loop phase[59]. Within each of these independent studies, the between subpopulations, while at least two transitional cell types evidence confirms these findings as additional techniques such as (in between PECs and podocytes) have been described in earlier single-molecule FISH and immunofluorescent labeling delivered research[97].
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