Isolation of Primary Human Proximal Tubule Epithelial Cells and Their Use in Creating a Microphysiological Model of the Renal Proximal Tubule

Kidney disease affects over 850 million people globally, including 37 million Americans. Risk factors for chronic kidney disease include environmental influences, genetic predispositions, co-existing medical conditions, and a history of acute kidney injury. These factors often take months or years to develop, complicating longitudinal studies of disease etiology and pathophysiology. Advanced kidney models are needed to improve our understanding of disease mechanisms and enhance nephrotoxicity prediction in drug development. Proximal tubule epithelial cells (PTECs) in the kidney play a critical role in xenobiotic and toxin clearance as well as the reabsorption of essential nutrients. We have previously demonstrated that three-dimensional (3D) microphysiological system (MPS) platforms, populated with isolated primary PTECs, can be used to investigate renal drug interactions, assess nephrotoxicity of compounds, and predict drug clearance. Here, we present protocols for isolating and culturing primary PTECs from whole human kidneys and for seeding them into a 3D MPS platform that mimics in vivo renal physiology. This protocol enables long-term studies supporting PTEC viability, physiological morphology, and functional polarization of key transporter proteins in MPS devices for up to 6 months.