20 Sep Scientists Hope To Use Donor Organs To Engineer Replacement Kidneys

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
James J. Yoo, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Office of Women in Medicine and Science
Physiology & Pharmacology
Translational Science Institute
Wake Forest School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC

Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Yoo: Our research is part of a long-term effort to engineer replacement kidneys in the lab to help solve the shortage of donor organs. In this particular report, we worked with human-sized kidneys and developed a method to help keep blood vessels in the new organs open and flowing with blood. Until now, lab-built kidneys had been rodent-sized and functioned for only one or two hours after transplantation because blood clots developed.

Our method to minimize clot formation involved two steps. First, we identified the most effective way to coat the vessels of the kidney scaffold with endothelial cells. We found that infusing cells with a syringe, followed by a period of pumping cells through the vessels at increasing flow rates, was most effective. Next, we looked for a way to ensure that the cells we introduced actually stayed in the vessels and did not wash away when blood flow was initiated. For this, we coated the vessel walls with an antibody to make them bind the endothelial cells.

Medical Research: What was most surprising about the results?

Dr. Yoo: The formation of blood clots in transplanted engineered kidneys has been a significant challenge faced by scientists working in this field. We have tried numerous methods to overcome this problem. We are very excited that the approach we’re reporting worked during a four-hour test period and are now working on a longer-term study to determine how long flow can be maintained.

Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Yoo: This study, combined with reports by others in the field, demonstrates the potential to use donor organs to engineer replacement kidneys for patients. This is obviously a long-term effort and there are many hurdles to overcome. However, we are hopeful that this approach will one day help address the shortage of donor organs for patients with end-stage renal disease.

Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Yoo: We are continuing with the study, working to further improve our methods. Of course, we expect to encounter other hurdles as we begin to test these kidneys pre-clinically, so cannot predict the exact course the research will take.

Citation:

In Kap Ko, Mehran Abolbashari, Jennifer Huling, Cheil Kim, Sayed-Hadi Mirmalek-Sani, Mahmoudreza Moradi, Giuseppe Orlando, John D. Jackson, Tamer Aboushwareb, Shay Soker, James J. Yoo, Anthony Atala. Enhanced re-endothelialization of acellular kidney scaffolds for whole organ engineering via antibody conjugation of vasculatures. Technology, 2014; DOI: 10.1142/S2339547814500228

Last Updated on September 20, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD