Urinary single-cell transcriptomics: a promising noninvasive method for assessing acute kidney injury

Noninvasive methods for obtaining intrarenal information are required to understand the mechanism of acute kidney injury (AKI). Klocke et al. explored the feasibility of using urinary single-cell RNA sequencing in assessing human AKI. Urine samples from patients with AKI included tubular epithelial cells with injury-related dedifferentiation and adaptive phenotypes, which could reflect kidney tissue damage. Thus, urinary single-cell RNA sequencing would provide new insights into human AKI, leading to the identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Noninvasive methods for obtaining intrarenal information are required to understand the mechanism of acute kidney injury (AKI). Klocke et al. explored the feasibility of using urinary single-cell RNA sequencing in assessing human AKI. Urine samples from patients with AKI included tubular epithelial cells with injury-related dedifferentiation and adaptive phenotypes, which could reflect kidney tissue damage. Thus, urinary single-cell RNA sequencing would provide new insights into human AKI, leading to the identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Urinary single-cell sequencing captures kidney injury and repair processes in human acute kidney injuryKidney InternationalVol. 102Issue 6PreviewAcute kidney injury (AKI) is a major health issue, the outcome of which depends primarily on damage and reparative processes of tubular epithelial cells. Mechanisms underlying AKI remain incompletely understood, specific therapies are lacking and monitoring the course of AKI in clinical routine is confined to measuring urine output and plasma levels of filtration markers. Here we demonstrate feasibility and potential of a novel approach to assess the cellular and molecular dynamics of AKI by establishing a robust urine-to-single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) pipeline for excreted kidney cells via flow cytometry sorting. Full-Text PDF Open Access