Bioprinting on-chip microphysiological models of humanized kidney tubulointerstitium
Eight hundred and fifty million people worldwide are currently affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD), which is also the 11th leading cause of mortality worldwide.  CKD can occur from a multitude of causes including diabetes and high-blood pressure. Moreover, recent clinical and experimental studies have shown that CKD is closely interconnected with acute kidney injury (AKI) as well. Currently available in vitro models show limited relevance to study AKI, especially drug- and virus- induced AKI, due to the poor functionality and relevance compared to a diseased human tissue. BIRDIE aims at developing three-dimensional (3D) in vitro human renal tubulointerstitium (TI) models to enable viral infection and nephrotoxicity studies while creating a robust platform to address other diseases and treatment innovations in the future. Two enabling technologies, bioprinting and organ-on-chip, will be combined to build a microphysiological relevant TI model. Primary human cells and induced pluripotent stem cells will be used to generate kidney models, and combined with the aforementioned techniques model envisioning a reliable screening platform for future patient specific therapies. Our ambition is to create a new 3D renal in vitro model allowing an unprecedented degree of mimicry and function compared to a human kidney. While developing the model focusing on the applications mentioned before, our goal is to make it broadly applicable to the multitude of kidney-related diseases.