Can kidney regeneration be visualized?

BACKGROUND Various cell types, including podocytes and parietal epithelial cells, play important roles in the development and progression of glomerular kidney diseases, albuminuria, and glomerulosclerosis. Besides their role in renal pathologies, glomerular cells have emerging new functions in endogenous repair mechanisms. A better understanding of the dynamics of the glomerular environment and cellular composition in an intact living kidney is critically important for the development of new regenerative therapeutic strategies for kidney diseases. However, progress in this field has been hampered by the lack of in vivo research tools. SUMMARY This review summarizes the current state-of-the-art in the application of the unique intravital imaging technology of multiphoton fluorescence microscopy for the dynamic visualization of glomerular structure and function over time in the intact, living kidney. Recently, this imaging approach in combination with transgenic mouse models allowed tracking of the fate of individual glomerular cells in vivo over several days and depicted the highly dynamic nature of the glomerular environment, particularly in disease conditions. KEY MESSAGES The technology is ready and available for future intravital imaging studies investigating new glomerular regenerative approaches in animal models.