02.12.2025 Protocol for a mouse tubuloid model of myoglobinuric acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury is a frequent clinical problem that affects a large number of patients and can lead to serious complications. Acute kidney injury can have a variety of causes, such as damage to the muscles, known as rhabdomyolysis. In rhabdomyolysis, the muscle protein “myoglobin” is released from muscles into the systemic circulation, and reaches the kidney, where it causes damage to renal tubular epithelial cells. Common triggers for rhabdomyolysis are muscle trauma, medical treatment with particular pharmacological drugs or severe COVID-19. The molecular mechanisms that underlie myoglobin-induced acute kidney injury are so far poorly understood. Scientists at the Institute of Pharmacology have now developed an in vitro model based on three-dimensional cell cultures - so-called organoids - that allows for mechanistic analyses. Moreover, this model can also be used to investigate the effect of pharmacological drugs on acute kidney injury. 

Link to the original publication: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2025.104205