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the primary challenges in engineering kidney organoids hydrogels. Compared with traditional alginate hydrogels
are safety, immaturity, and limited vascularization. There used for kidney organoid culture, the calcium ion-cross-
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is no available method to generate kidney organoids that linked alginate employed in their study has significantly
fully recapitulate the complex structure and function of the higher viscoelasticity, resembling murine embryonic
kidney, limiting their efficacy in modeling kidney diseases kidneys more closely. The use of alginate hydrogels as a
and regenerative medicine. 66 culture matrix significantly impacts nephron morphology
Nerger et al. investigated how rigidity and and function by encapsulating kidney organoids in
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viscoelasticity affect the 3D differentiation of human viscoelastic gels with varying stress relaxation rates
kidney organoids encapsulated in ion-cross-linked alginate (Figure 5A), as encapsulated organoids exhibit more

A

B C

D

Figure 5. A new model for culturing kidney organoids with hydrogels. (A) Alginate hydrogels approximate the soft viscoelastic mechanical properties
of the metanephric mesenchyme in the mouse embryonic kidney. Image used with permission from Nerger et al., Copyright © 2024, Wiley. (B) The
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scheme of a protocol for utilizing dECM-derived hydrogels to induce the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into kidney organoids.
(C) Human kidney dECM hydrogel enhanced the endothelial cell compartment in kidney organoids. Image used with permission from Garreta et al.,
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Copyright © 2024, Wiley.
Abbreviations: dECM: Decellularized extracellular matrix; hPSCs: Human pluripotent stem cells.

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2025) 14 doi: 10.36922/or.8262