Diabetic nephropathy modelling in hesc-derived 3d kidney organoids
Diabetic Nephropathy is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). To date, treatment of DN is mainly based on drugs acting on glycaemic and blood pressure control, as there is no validated therapy able to stop the progression towards renal failure. One of the main impediments for developing new therapies for DN has been the lack of a good preclinical model which can recapitulate important functional, structural, and molecular features of advanced human diabetic kidney disease. Here, we aim to develop a DN modelling using human Embryonic Stem Cell (hESC) derived kidney organoids which can recapitulate the in vivo architecture, functionality, and genetic signature of DN. Due to the increasing evidences that links aberrant DNA methylation with kidney fibrosis and metabolic reprograming in DN, we hypothesize that early DN progression is promoted by the metabolic alterations occurring in diabetic patients, resulting in the epigenetic reprogramming of kidney proximal tubular epithelial cells (KPTCs). Based in my background in the fields of metabolism and diabetes, together with the expertise of Dr. Montserrat in the field of somatic reprograming, DN and tissue regeneration/differentiation, this proposal seeks to:1) Elucidate the methylation status of the promoters/enhancers of genes encoding enzymes and regulators of fibrosis and fatty acid oxidation in proximal tubular cells obtained from diabetic patients at different stages of DN progression 2) Establish two in vitro models using hESC-derived kidney organoids; an engineered DN in vitro model, using CRISPR Cas9 to mimic the epigenome signature of DN patients and a physiological DN in vitro model which mimic the diabetic physiological chemistry. The information gained from this DN modelling will offer improved insight into disease pathology and progression. Moreover, it may also serve as a tool for drug discovery to identify therapeutic targets for DN.