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Article

Protocol for SARS-CoV-2 infection of kidney organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells

Publicated to:Star Protocols. 3 (4): 101872- - 2022-12-16 3(4), DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101872

Authors: Garreta, E; Moya-Rull, D; Stanifer, ML; Monteil, V; Prado, P; Marco, A; Tarantino, C; Gallo, M; Jonsson, G; Hagelkruys, A; Mirazimi, A; Boulant, S; Penninger, JM; Montserrat, N

Affiliations

Austrian Acad Sci, Inst Mol Biotechnol, IMBA, Dr Bohr Gasse 3, A-1030 Vienna, Austria - Author
Barcelona Inst Sci & Technol BIST, Inst Bioengn Catalonia IBEC, Pluripotency Organ Regenerat, Barcelona 08028, Spain - Author
Catalan Inst Res & Adv Studies ICREA, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain - Author
Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, 28029 Madrid, Spain - Author
Ctr Invest Biomed Red Bioingn Biomat & Nanomed, Madrid 28029, Spain - Author
Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology, Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany - Author
Department of Infectious Diseases, Virology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany - Author
Department of Medical Genetics, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada - Author
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA - Author
German Canc Res Ctr, Res Grp Cellular Polar & Viral Infect, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany - Author
Heidelberg Univ Hosp, Dept Infect Dis Virol, Heidelberg, Germany - Author
Heidelberg Univ Hosp, Dept Infect Dis, Mol Virol, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany - Author
IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030 Vienna, Austria - Author
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia - Author
Karolinska Inst, S-17182 Stockholm, Sweden - Author
Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Unit of Clinical Microbiology, 17182 Stockholm, Sweden - Author
Karolinska Univ Hosp, Unit Clin Microbiol, S-17182 Stockholm, Sweden - Author
National Veterinary Institute, 751 89 Uppsala, Sweden - Author
Natl Vet Inst, S-75189 Uppsala, Sweden - Author
Pluripotency for organ regeneration. Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia - Author
Research Group “Cellular Polarity and Viral Infection”, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany - Author
Univ British Columbia, Life Sci Inst, Dept Med Genet, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada - Author
Univ Florida, Coll Med, Dept Mol Genet & Microbiol, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA - Author
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Abstract

This protocol presents the use of SARS-CoV-2 isolates to infect human kidney organoids, enabling exploration of the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a human multicellular in vitro system. We detail steps to generate kidney organoids from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) and emulate a diabetic milieu via organoids exposure to diabetogenic-like cell culture conditions. We further describe preparation and titration steps of SARS-CoV-2 virus stocks, their subsequent use to infect the kidney organoids, and assessment of the infection via immunofluorescence.

Keywords
cell culturecell differentiationmicrobiologymicroscopyorganoidsCell cultureCell differentiationCovid-19HumansKidneyMicrobiologíaMicrobiologyMicroscopyOrganoidsPluripotent stem cellsSars-cov-2Stem cells

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Star Protocols due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Miscellaneous).

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-05-21:

  • WoS: 2
  • Scopus: 2
  • Europe PMC: 1
  • OpenCitations: 2
Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-05-21:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 15.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 15 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Austria; Canada; Germany; Sweden; United States of America.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Garreta Bahima, Elena) and Last Author (Montserrat Pulido, Núria).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Montserrat Pulido, Núria.