Japanese scientists grow artificial kidneys from stem cells
Miscellaneous / / February 03, 2022
In the future, this is a chance to help 750 million patients with kidney failure.
Biologists from Kumamoto University managed Generation of the organotypic kidney structure by integrating pluripotent stem cell-derived renal stroma / Nature grow the stroma (connective tissue) of the kidney from mouse stem cells. The technology made it possible to bring together all the main components and create an artificial copy of this organ.
Stem cells are immature and versatile. They can independently renew themselves, divide and develop into any other cells of the human body. For research and the cultivation of new organs, embryonic stem cells are usually used, which are obtained in the early stages of embryo development.
The kidney consists of the ureter, which connects it to the bladder, the nephron, which filters fluid, and stroma - loose and fibrous connective tissue, which is responsible for the work and organ development. Scientists have previously grown the ureter and nephron from stem cells, but it was not possible to apply existing techniques for the stroma.
After several years of research, Dr. Ryuichi Nishinakamura's team succeeded in developing a new technology for growing mouse stroma. Biologists connected it to the ureter and nephron and received artificial kidneys, the three-dimensional structure of which is the same as that of real organs.
So far, experiments are carried out only with mouse stem cells, but this is the first step towards growing full-fledged human kidneys. The need for them is very high: only in the United States (population 330 million people) about 122 thousand. patients expect organ transplants, of which 100,000 I need new kidneys.
In general, there are more than 752 million people on the planet sufferDisparities in Chronic Kidney Disease Prevalence among Males and Females in 195 Countries: Analysis of the Global Burden of Disease 2016 Study / Nephron from chronic renal failure. Some of them manage to get an organ from a related donor, some more from a posthumous one, the rest are forced to support health medication and regularly, sometimes every other day, undergo a long procedure of hemodialysis (hardware blood purification).
Recently in the US, a patient for the first time transplanted genetically modified pig kidneys. But an organ grown from one's own stem cells will have a lower risk of rejection.
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