Current advances of stem cell-based therapy for kidney diseases

Figure 1 Overview of stem cell-based strategies to treat kidney disease. Different types of stem cell were explored for their ability to treat kidney disease. One strategy was to direct the differentiation of stem cells into kidney component cells in vitro or in vivo to replace the injured or damaged cells. Other strategies were to transplant stem cells or stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles to generate paracrine effect/endocrine effect, and to use kidney organoid formation to replace whole kidney organ.

Figure 2 Kidney and its main components. A: Kidney; B: Magnification of the nephron; C: Renal corpuscle; D: Glomerulus. Podocytes, mesangial cells and capillary endothelial cells are parts of the glomerulus structure.