M.D., Ph.D. Professor Kenji Osafune
Intractable disorders arising in kidney, pancreas and liver, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes and liver cirrhosis, cause both medical and medicoeconomical problems worldwide. In order to overcome these problems, our laboratory is focusing on the in vitro differentiation of kidney, pancreas and liver cells from human iPSCs and the tissue or organ reconstruction from the induced cells for transplantation therapy. We are also developing iPSC-based disease models to discover drugs for the intractable disorders of kidney, pancreas and liver.
Research and Education
By establishing the directed differentiation methods from human iPS cells into kidney, pancreas and liver lineage cells, our group is working on the following projects 1) the mechanistic elucidation of organogenesis of kidney, pancreas and liver 2) the development of cell therapy and reconstruction of transplantable organs for CKD, diabetes and liver cirrhosis and 3) the creation of disease models and drug discovery for intractable disorders of kidney, pancreas and liver, such as polycystic kidney disease (PKD), Alport syndrome, hereditary diabetes and pancreatitis and metabolic dysfunction- associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
Figure 1. Kidney tissues generated from human iPS cells. Immunostaining or lectin staining for glomerular podocytes (PODOCALYXIN; white), proximal renal tubules (Lotus tetragonolobus lectin, LTL; red) and distal renal tubules (CDH1; green) (Tsujimoto H. et al., 2020).
Figure 2. Pancreatic islet tissues generated from human iPS cells. Immunostaining for pancreatic β cells (C-PEPTIDE; green) and nuclei (blue) (Kimura A. unpublished).
Recent Publications
- Araoka T, Toyohara K, Ryosaka M, Inui C, Matsuura M, Ma C, Watahiki J, Li Z, Iwasaki M, Watanabe A, Yokokawa R, Tabata Y, Belmonte JCI, Osafune K. Human iPSC-derived nephron progenitor cells treat AKI and CKD in mouse models. Science Translational Medicine, 2025; 17(792). Eadt5553.
- Tsujimoto H, Hoshina A, Mae SI, Araoka T, Changting W, Ijiri Y, Nakajima-Koyama M, Sakurai S, Okita K, Mizuta K, Niwa A, Saito MK, Saitou M, Yamamoto T, Graneli C, Woollard KJ, Osafune K. Selective induction of human renal interstitial progenitorlike cell lineages from iPSCs reveals development of mesangial and EPO-producing cells. Cell Reports, 2024; 43: 113602.
- Mae SI, Hattanda F, Morita H, Nozaki A, Katagiri N, Ogawa H, Teranaka K, Nishimura Y, Kudoh A, Yamanaka S, Matsuse K, Ryosaka M, Watanabe A, Soga T, Nishio S, Osafune K. Human iPSC-derived renal collecting duct organoid model cystogenesis in ADPKD. Cell Reports. 2023; 42: 113431.
- Kimura A, Toyoda T, Iwasaki M, Hirama R, Osafune K. Combined Omics Approaches Reveal the Roles of Non-canonical WNT7B Signaling and YY1 in the Proliferation of Human Pancreatic Progenitor Cells. Cell Chem Biology, 2020; 27: 1561-1572.e7.
- Mae SI, Shono A, Shiota F, Yasuno T, Kajiwara M, Gotoda-Nishimura N, Arai S, SatoOtubo A, Toyoda T, Takahashi K, Nakayama N, Cowan CA, Aoi T, Ogawa S, McMahon AP, Yamanaka S, Osafune K.Monitoring and robust induction of nephrogenic intermediate mesoderm from human pluripotent stem cells. Nat Communications, 2013; 4: 1367.
Laboratory
M.D., Ph.D. Professor Kenji Osafune
TEL: 075-366-7058
FAX: 075-366-7077
e-mail: osafune-g@cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp
URL: http://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/e/research/osafune_summary.html