Kidney development and perspectives for organ engineering

Organ transplantation is currently the best strategy for treating end stage renal disease (ESRD) but the numbers of donor kidneys available are not sufficient to meet the needs of the ever-increasing ESRD population. Therefore, developments in the field of tissue engineering are necessary to provide alternative treatments. Decellularization and three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting strategies may serve as attractive novel options. Since successful tissue engineering requires an in -depth understanding of organ development and regulatory pathways, we discuss signaling in renal development and the composition of the renal extracellular matrix before presenting progress in the decellularization and 3D bioprinting fields.