Single-cell transcriptomics of the mouse kidney reveals potential cellular targets of kidney disease

TLDR

The kidney’s cellular complexity hampers understanding of chronic kidney disease, which affects 10 % of the world’s population, despite its essential role in maintaining health. Park et al. generated a comprehensive single‑cell transcriptional atlas of the healthy mouse kidney. They identified an unexpected transitional cell type in the collecting duct regulated by Notch signaling and linked to metabolic acidosis, and showed that genetically distinct kidney diseases with similar clinical features share common cellular origins.

Abstract

Touring the kidney, cell by cell Our kidneys play a critical role in keeping us healthy, a fact of which we are reminded several times each day. This organ's cellular complexity has hindered progress in understanding the mechanisms underlying chronic kidney disease, which affects 10% of the world's population. Using single-cell transcriptional profiling, Park et al. produced a comprehensive cell atlas of the healthy mouse kidney (see the Perspective by Humphreys). An unexpected cell type in the collecting duct appears to be a transitional state between two known cell types. The transition from one cell type to the other is regulated by the Notch signaling pathway and is associated with metabolic acidosis. The authors also find that genetically distinct kidney diseases with common clinical features share common cellular origins. Science , this issue p. 758 ; see also p. 709