Functional Construction Strategies and Multidimensional Applications of Kidney Organoids

Kidney diseases represent a major global health burden, highlighting the need for advanced human-relevant models to investigate disease mechanisms and develop therapeutic strategies. Stem cell-derived kidney organoids have emerged as powerful human-relevant platforms that recapitulate key aspects of kidney development and enable the modeling of renal diseases. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in kidney organoid construction and characterization and highlights key bioengineering strategies for improving their structural and functional properties. These strategies include decellularized extracellular matrix scaffolds, 3D bioprinting, genetic engineering, vascularization, and organoid-on-a-chip technologies. Their broad biomedical applications in disease modeling, drug screening, toxicity assessment, and regenerative medicine are further discussed. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives are addressed, with emphasis on improving reproducibility, maturation, and functional relevance to advance the translational potential of kidney organoids.