Research advances in renal organoids and its applications for evaluating drug nephrotoxicity

Renal toxicity is one of common reasons for a failure of drug research. Thus it is imperative to establish a reliable method of evaluating drug nephrotoxicity. Recently a novel in vitro research model of organoid has attracted growing attention. Organoids are capable of highly simulating the functional structures of tissues and organs in vivo and possessing stable genetic traits. With real organ structures and functions, renal organoids have great application values and development potentials for evaluating drug nephrotoxicity. This review summarized the construction of kidney organoids and their applications in drug safety evaluations. It provided theoretical rationale for drug toxicity assessment and screening for potential adverse reactions of related drugs.