Gene markers measure damage in single kidney and liver cells

Researchers in Cologne have developed a computer-assisted method that uses gene-expression markers to quantify damage in individual kidney and liver cells, bringing that variation into view.

The team combines work from the University of Cologne, University Hospital Cologne and the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research. Led by Professor Andreas Beyer of the CECAD Cluster of Excellence on Aging Research, with nephrologist Dr. Martin Kann, the project focuses on podocytes in the kidney and hepatocytes in the liver—cell types linked to age-related diseases.

The approach works with single-cell RNA sequencing, which measures gene activity one cell at a time, and with spatial transcriptome data from tissue. By identifying marker genes, the computer can sort cells according to the damage they have sustained, then examine which biological processes occur in sequence.

That sequence is the practical gain. The method is designed to distinguish early disease mechanisms from later changes and to tell patient-specific progression apart from more general disease patterns. Those signals could help researchers identify stages at which an intervention might work best and support more precisely tailored treatments.

And concretely? The technique gives scientists a way to study disease trajectories inside an individual tissue sample rather than relying only on an overall tissue average. It is still a research method: the Cologne teams are refining it to better predict disease progression in patients. The findings were published in Cell Genomics.