Podocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells: characterization, comparison, and modeling of diabetic kidney disease.

We found that our accelerated 12-day method for the differentiation of podocytes from human-induced pluripotent stem cells yields podocytes with comparable marker expression to longer podocytes. We also demonstrated that podocytes created with this protocol have typical morphology by electron microscopy. The podocytes have utility for diabetes modeling as evidenced by lower viability and increased cytotoxicity when treated with high glucose. We found that multiple, diverse methods may be utilized to create iPSC-podocytes, but closely mimicking developmental cues shortened the time frame required for differentiation.