Person:
Lam, Albert

Profile Picture

Email Address

AA Acceptance Date

Birth Date

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Job Title

Last Name

Lam

First Name

Albert

Name

Lam, Albert

Filters

20153

Settings

Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.393c8eba-a722-412b-b158-dba6e803de3c

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Directed Differentiation of Pluripotent Stem Cells into Kidney
    (Libertas Academica, 2015) Morizane, Ryuji; Lam, Albert
    Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), represent an ideal substrate for regenerating kidney cells and tissue lost through injury and disease. Recent studies have demonstrated the ability to differentiate PSCs into populations of nephron progenitor cells that can organize into kidney epithelial structures in three-dimensional contexts. While these findings are highly encouraging, further studies need to be performed to improve the efficiency and specificity of kidney differentiation. The identification of specific markers of the differentiation process is critical to the development of protocols that effectively recapitulate nephrogenesis in vitro. In this review, we summarize the current studies describing the differentiation of ESCs and iPSCs into cells of the kidney lineage. We also present an analysis of the markers relevant to the stages of kidney development and differentiation and propose a new roadmap for the directed differentiation of PSCs into nephron progenitor cells of the metanephric mesenchyme.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Modelling kidney disease with CRISPR-mutant kidney organoids derived from human pluripotent epiblast spheroids
    (Nature Pub. Group, 2015) Freedman, Benjamin S.; Brooks, Craig R.; Lam, Albert; Fu, Hongxia; Morizane, Ryuji; Agrawal, Vishesh; Saad, Abdelaziz F.; Li, Michelle; Hughes, Michael R.; Werff, Ryan Vander; Peters, Derek T.; Lu, Junjie; Baccei, Anna; Siedlecki, Andrew; Valerius, M. Todd; Musunuru, Kiran; McNagny, Kelly M.; Steinman, Theodore; Zhou, Jing; Lerou, Paul; Bonventre, Joseph
    Human-pluripotent-stem-cell-derived kidney cells (hPSC-KCs) have important potential for disease modelling and regeneration. Whether the hPSC-KCs can reconstitute tissue-specific phenotypes is currently unknown. Here we show that hPSC-KCs self-organize into kidney organoids that functionally recapitulate tissue-specific epithelial physiology, including disease phenotypes after genome editing. In three-dimensional cultures, epiblast-stage hPSCs form spheroids surrounding hollow, amniotic-like cavities. GSK3β inhibition differentiates spheroids into segmented, nephron-like kidney organoids containing cell populations with characteristics of proximal tubules, podocytes and endothelium. Tubules accumulate dextran and methotrexate transport cargoes, and express kidney injury molecule-1 after nephrotoxic chemical injury. CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of podocalyxin causes junctional organization defects in podocyte-like cells. Knockout of the polycystic kidney disease genes PKD1 or PKD2 induces cyst formation from kidney tubules. All of these functional phenotypes are distinct from effects in epiblast spheroids, indicating that they are tissue specific. Our findings establish a reproducible, versatile three-dimensional framework for human epithelial disease modelling and regenerative medicine applications.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Nephron organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells model kidney development and injury
    (2015) Morizane, Ryuji; Lam, Albert; Freedman, Benjamin S.; Kishi, Seiji; Valerius, M. Todd; Bonventre, Joseph
    Kidney cells and tissues derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) would enable organ regeneration, disease modeling, and drug screening in vitro. We established an efficient, chemically defined protocol for differentiating hPSCs into multipotent nephron progenitor cells (NPCs) that can form nephron-like structures. By recapitulating metanephric kidney development in vitro, we generate SIX2+SALL1+WT1+PAX2+ NPCs with 90% efficiency within 9 days of differentiation. The NPCs possess the developmental potential of their in vivo counterparts and form PAX8+LHX1+ renal vesicles that self-pattern into nephron structures. In both 2D and 3D culture, NPCs form kidney organoids containing epithelial nephron-like structures expressing markers of podocytes, proximal tubules, loops of Henle, and distal tubules in an organized, continuous arrangement that resembles the nephron in vivo. We also show that this organoid culture system can be used to study mechanisms of human kidney development and toxicity.