Transplantation of human kidney organoids elicited a robust allogeneic response in a humanized mouse model

Abstract

Human kidney organoids derived from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have become novel tools for studying various kidney pathologies. Here, we transplanted ESC-derived kidney organoids into humanized mice with a mature human adaptive immune system developed through thymic education. As judged by histology and immunophenotyping, the transplanted HLA-mismatched kidney organoids trigged a robust alloimmune response, characterized by a dense immune cell infiltrate and enhanced memory T cell phenotype in the allograft 30 days post-transplantation. Multiplexed immunofluorescence revealed expression of functional markers of various immune cell infiltrates in response to organoid allografts, mimicking the T cell-mediated rejection process in humans. This validated our model as a novel platform to study various therapeutic strategies to control alloimmunity. Splenocytes isolated from organoid-transplanted hosts showed an alloantigen-specific memory response against 2D kidney organoids ex vivo. Overall, our study indicates that transplanting kidney organoids in humanized mice may be a valuable tool for studying human allogeneic immunity.