Human proximal tubule cells form functional microtissues.

The epithelial cells lining the proximal tubules of the kidney mediate complex transport processes and are particularly vulnerable to drug toxicity. Drug toxicity studies are classically based on two-dimensional cultures of immortalized proximal tubular cells. Such immortalized cells are dedifferentiated, and lose transport properties (including saturable endocytic uptake) encountered in vivo.

Engineering melanoma progression in a humanized environment in vivo.

To overcome the lack of effective therapeutics for aggressive melanoma, new research models closely resembling the human disease are required. Here we report the development of a fully orthotopic, humanized in vivo model for melanoma, faithfully recapitulating human disease initiation and progression. To this end, human melanoma cells were seeded into engineered human dermo-epidermal skin substitutes.