Multi-omics data integration shines a light on the renal medulla

The renal medulla maintains salt and water balance and is prone to dysregulation because of high oxygen demand. Challenges in obtaining high-quality tissue have limited characterization of molecular programs regulating the medulla. Haug et al. leveraged gene expression, chromatin accessibility, long-range chromosomal interactions, and spatial transcriptomics to build a reference set of medullary tissue marker genes to define the medullary role in kidney function, exemplifying the strength and utility of multi-omic data integration.