Patient-Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Target Kidney Disease

The reprogramming of adult cells to generate induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells has advanced the study of disease modeling and is potentially of use as autologous cell replacement therapy. This chapter discusses opportunities for the differentiation of iPS cells into kidney lineages and the challenges of reprogramming for in vitro disease modeling and therapeutic intervention. Specifically, it will address the use of patient-derived iPS cells as tools for understanding how mutations cause disease, for nephrotoxicity assays and drug discovery, and for disease-modifying bioassays. Ultimately, a more detailed understanding of cell reprogramming and directed differentiation must be developed before iPS technology can be used as a treatment for kidney disease. Despite limits to our understanding of iPS differentiation and obstacles to iPS therapeutic applications, cellular reprogramming may help elucidate mechanisms of cell dedifferentiation and development, providing fundamental information on endogenous cell replacement mechanisms after injury.