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During the congress, E-Posters will be accessible to all participants on the congress website 24/7, as well as in the E-poster stations in the congress center.
Preparing your E-Poster
Please review the E-Poster format requirements carefully when preparing your E-Poster. Should your E-Poster not meet the mentioned requirements, it may not be displayed as described above.
E-Poster Submission Deadline
Please prepare and upload your E-Poster no later than March 14, 2026 11.59PM CET. After this date, you will no longer be able to prepare and upload your E-poster and it will not be displayed and accessible on the congress website.
Please follow the instructions below to input your abstract title.
Abstract titles should be brief and reflect the content of the abstract.
Replicating the glomerular filtration barrier in vitro remains a major challenge due to its complex multicellular architecture. Its selective permeability relies on interactions between podocytes and glomerular endothelial cells (GEnC) across the glomerular basement membrane (GBM). Existing models often fail to capture these dynamics. We developed a biologically validated glomerulus-on-a-chip that recreates a humanized GBM by co-culturing podocytes and GEnC on a collagen-coated PET membrane within a microfluidic system.
The chip was fabricated using cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) and integrated with an 11 µm-thick polyethylene terephthalate (PET) membrane with 8 µm pores. The system featured upper and lower chambers representing the vascular and urinary spaces, respectively. Human podocytes (AB8/13) and conditionally immortalized GEnC (ciGEnC) were seeded at 1×10⁶ cells/mL on the lower and upper chambers, respectively. We acknowledge the provision of human podocytes (AB8/13) and ciGEnC by Dr. Moin Saleem and Dr. Simon Satchell (Renal Medicine, University of Bristol). Differentiation was achieved over a 14-day protocol, with podocytes seeded first and GEnC introduced on day 7. Cells were stained using CellTracker™ dyes and imaged via confocal laser scanning microscopy. Z-stack and 3D reconstructions were analyzed using ImageJ to assess monolayer formation, morphology, and GBM integrity. Quantitative analysis included cell area coverage, ciGEnC-to-podocyte area ratios, and interaction density.
Confocal microscopy revealed a highly organized arrangement consisting of two distinct, tightly aligned cell layers. Podocytes exhibited differentiated morphology with foot process-like projections and increased surface area, particularly in co-culture conditions. ciGEnC alignment was significantly enhanced compared to monoculture. Quantitative measurements across six microfluidic chips demonstrated that the ciGEnC-to-podocyte area ratio stabilized at ~1:1 when seeded at equal densities, confirming a balanced cellular interface. Notably, higher podocyte density increased GBM coverage but reduced viability and arborization, whereas optimized co-culture supported stable interactions and extracellular matrix deposition. Time-lapse imaging confirmed dynamic cell-cell engagement and membrane fusion behavior over 72 hours.
This study presents the first co-culture-based recreation of a human GBM with functional characteristics in a microfluidic system. The platform supports differentiation, spatial organization, and structural interaction between podocytes and GEnC, validated through confocal imaging and quantitative image analysis. The model provides a robust tool for studying glomerular diseases, podocyte injury, endothelial dysfunction, and filtration-related drug screening in a physiologically relevant context.
