Recent progress in kidney regeneration

Abstract

During human embryogenesis, a single fertilized cell develops into a whole body within 266 days. The resulting neonate has every organ positioned correctly, indicating that this single fertilized ovum contains a blueprint from which the body forms, including the kidney. Therefore, it can be imagined that by applying exogenous pluri- or multi-potent stem cells in the organogenesis niche at exactly the right time, a whole kidney might be regenerated via nephrogenesis programming. This strategy can be categorized into three, depending on the stage of development at which the strategy is applied；the blastocyst stage, the organogenesis stage and the adult stage. Each of these strategies may be applicable in the clinical setting, but a substantial preparation period appears to be required. Although many outstanding problems remain for kidney regeneration, including ethical issues and the formation of chimeric structures, this “niche strategy” provides hope to dialysis patients and is expected to become reality in the future.