A new article published in the PLoS One reported on the results of a study which recently demonstrated that the adult human kidney cortex contains a perivascular stromal cell (kPSC) exhibiting organotypic properties, and is important for repair and stabilization of kidney function. It was stated that the kidney cortex as well as the kidney capsule comprises stromal cells, which are essential for the three dimensional organization of the kidney during nephrogenesis. These facilitate barrier function of the capsule, critical for homeostatic processes, for instance pressure natriuresis. Hence, it was hypothesized that stromal cells derived from the kidney capsule may have specific properties and functions. In an experiment, these capsule mesenchymal stromal cells (cMSC) from human cadaveric kidneys were isolated. Several similarities were observed between cMSCs and kPSCs including support of vascular plexus formation, phenotypic marker expression, and resistance against myofibroblast transformation. Whereas, compared to kPSCs, cMSCs displayed distinct mRNA and miRNA expression profiles, increased immunosuppressive capacity, and strongly decreased HGF production contributing to the inability to enhance kidney epithelial repair. From the findings, it was concluded that cMSCs are a distinct, novel human kidney-derived MSC-population. Thus, these data highlight the large functional diversity of phenotypic similar stromal cells with respect to their anatomic site, even within a single organ.