A protocol for one-step differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into mature podocytes

Abstract

Within the glomerulus, podocytes are highly specialized visceral epithelial cells that are part of the glomerular filtration barrier. Human podocyte cell culture is rather challenging for primary or immortalized cells, due to the nonproliferative state of the cells. In addition, rapid dedifferentiation is often observed. Hence, iPSC-derived podocytes offer an exciting alternative to culture podocyte-like cells from different donors over prolonged time. Here we report a simple and rapid one-step protocol that drives iPSC into podocyte-like cells in 10 days.