Generating Kidney Structures in the Lab

The ability to engineer replacement kidney tissue in the lab could potentially offer many advantages over the current options for patients with end-stage kidney failure. While transplantation and dialysis are both effective at prolonging survival for these patients, the shortage of donor organs is a limiting factor and there are problems with graft failure, the side effects of powerful immunosuppressant drugs and complications and costs of dialysis.

As reported in Methods, our success generating kidney structures using primary kidney cells from mice suggests the potential for using the technique with end-stage renal failure patients. The engineered structures not only resembled tubules and glomeruli, the nephron components involved in kidney filtration, but histologic testing also showed a phenotype resemblance to native kidneys. In addition, they stained positively for a protein that is expressed by native kidneys.

To isolate the kidney cells that included those needed to generate tubules and glomeruli in the lab, we used a protocol involving homogenization and digestion of kidney tissue. Collagen was used to suspend primary kidney cells in a three-dimensional shape.

This project shows that kidney structures can be reconstituted in a three-dimensional system. Being able to reconstitute the structures in the lab, and then implant them, would allow for a controlled method for kidney tissue formation in the body.

(In vitro generation of three-dimensional renal structures. Joraku A, Stern KA, Atala A, Yoo JJ. Methods. 2009 Feb;47(2):129-33. Epub 2008 Oct 7.)