Influenced by Nature, Refined by Science
Roy and his colleagues crafted the bioreactor to link straight to blood vessels and veins, permitting the passage of nutrients and oxygen, much like a transplanted kidney would. Silicon membranes keep the kidney cells inside the bioreactor safe from attack by the recipients immune cells.
The team utilized a type of kidney cell called a proximal tubule cell, which manages water and salt, as a test case. Co-author H. David Humes, MD, from the University of Michigan, had actually formerly used these cells to help dialysis clients in the intensive care system with life-saving results..
A Green Light for The Kidney Project.
The group tracked the kidney cells and the recipient animals for seven days after transplant and both did well. The next action will be month-long trials, as required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), initially in animals and ultimately in people.
” We needed to prove that a functional bioreactor will not require immunosuppressant drugs, and we did,” Roy said. “We had no problems and can now iterate up, reaching for the entire panel of kidney functions at the human scale.”.
Referral: “Feasibility of an implantable bioreactor for renal cell therapy utilizing silicon nanopore membranes” by Eun Jung Kim, Caressa Chen, Rebecca Gologorsky, Ana Santandreu, Alonso Torres, Nathan Wright, Mark S. Goodin, Jarrett Moyer, Benjamin W. Chui, Charles Blaha, Paul Brakeman, Shant Vartanian, Qizhi Tang, H. David Humes, William H. Fissell and Shuvo Roy, 29 August 2023, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-39888-2.
Authors: Additional UCSF authors are Eun Jung Kim, PhD, Caressa Chen, MD, Rebecca Gologorsky, MD, Ana Santandreu, Alonso Torres, Nathan Wright, MS, Jarrett Moyer, MD, Benjamin W. Chui, PhD, Charles Blaha, MS, Paul Brakeman, MD, PhD, Shant Vartanian, MD, and Qizhi Tang, PhD. For all authors, see the paper.
Funding and disclosures: The research study was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health (U01EB021214, R25EB023856), as well as philanthropy. For all funding sources and author disclosures, see the paper.
Shuvo Roy holding an early prototype of an artificial kidney. Credit: Steve Babuljak
The Kidney Project proves its bioreactor can keep kidney cells alive for at least one week.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) are working on a new approach to dealing with kidney failure that could one day free individuals from requiring dialysis or having to take extreme drugs to reduce their immune system after a transplant.
They have shown for the very first time that kidney cells, housed in an implantable device called a bioreactor, can make it through inside the body of a pig and mimic a number of important kidney functions. The gadget can work silently in the background, like a pacemaker, and does not set off the recipients immune system to go on the attack.
The findings, published in Nature Communications today (August 29, 2023), are an important advance for The Kidney Project, which is jointly headed by UCSFs Shuvo Roy, PhD (technical director) and Vanderbilt University Medical Centers William H. Fissell, MD (medical director).
The Kidney Projects Future Directions
Ultimately, researchers plan to fill the bioreactor with various kidney cells that perform vital functions like stabilizing the bodys fluids and launching hormones to manage blood pressure– then set it with a gadget that filters waste from the blood.
” The bioartificial kidney will make treatment for kidney illness more efficient and likewise far more tolerable and comfy.”
— Shuvo Roy, PhD
The aim is to produce a human-scale gadget to enhance on dialysis, which keeps individuals alive after their kidneys fail however is a poor replacement for having a genuine working organ. More than 500,000 people in the U.S. require dialysis a number of times a week. Many seek kidney transplants, but there are inadequate donors, and just about 20,000 individuals get them each year. An implantable synthetic kidney would be an advantage.
” We are focused on safely reproducing the crucial functions of a kidney,” said Roy, a bioengineering teacher in the UCSF School of Pharmacy. “The bioartificial kidney will make treatment for kidney disease more reliable and also much more tolerable and comfortable.”
Synthetic kidney. Credit: The Kidney Project