EpiKidney™, Human 3D In Vitro Kidney Model

Human 3D in vitro kidney model is disrupting the pharmacokinetics research space as an easy-to-use, physiologically active renal proximal tubule organotypic model.

EpiKidney is a ready-to-use, 3D organotypic model comprised of human primary proximal tubular epithelial cells. These cells are expanded and then seeded onto microporous membrane inserts. Grown at the air-liquid interface the cells differentiate into polarized epithelium expressing brush border proteins megalin, villin, and GGT1 together with water channel AQP1 on the apical side and sodium-potassium ATPase pump on the basolateral side. EpiKidney is a valuable tool for the predictivity of human responses to pharmacological drug candidates, to study human nephrotoxicity and its mechanisms, and reduce animal usage in pre-clinical drug screening.

EpiKidney is the first-of-its-kind renal proximal tubule tissue with the following characteristics:
· Epithelial Polarity
· Highly Differentiated, Physiologically Relevant
· Delivered Ready-to-use & Easy-to-use

The renal proximal tubular region is the most common site for a compound-specific kidney injury and is responsible for essential kidney functions, including reabsorption of low molecular weight proteins, solutes, and glucose, secretion of acids, and clearance of administered medications. The EpiKidney model is designed to replicate this region of the kidney.

In the advanced cell culture space, the kidney is one of the more underrepresented models due to its complexity from a function, physiology, and structure perspective. We are focused on building highly relevant in vitro organ systems and our EpiKidney model is a 3D lab-grown human tissue model designed to recapitulate the kidney within an easy-to-use in vitro system.

Real-time qPCR analysis confirms that the EpiKidney tissue expresses a panel of PTEC-specific markers that are necessary for renal clearance, secretion, and reabsorption: aminopeptidase CD13, multidrug resistance proteins MRP2/4, CYP450 enzymes, glucose transporters SGLT1/2, multidrug and toxin extrusion transporter MATE1, organic cation and anion transporters OCT1/2, OCTN1/2, and OATP4C1, urate transporter URAT1, and sodium phosphate co-transporter NP2. The model has demonstrated the tissue morphology, barrier properties, gene expression, and tissue performance seen within the in vivo proximal tubular region which enables it to be a highly useful model for kidney research.

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