Synthetic scaffolds for the recreation of human kidney

For renal disease patients, long term solutions could be provided by tissue engineering of living 3D renal tissues derived from the patient themselves (autologous grafts) to be used to replace the damaged kidney. The main requirements for an engineered functional renal construct are living cells and a scaffold system for cell-support, a feature that is accounted for in nature by the extracellular matrix (ECM). Biofabrication with synthetic materials allows the creation of artificial thin polymer fiber-based scaffolds for native ECM replacement. In this project, the UMC Utrecht collaborates with the private partner (IME) to develop a proof-of-concept renal scaffold. 

Global incidence of chronic kidney disease is increasing due to population aging. It is estimated that circa 10% of the world population is affected, with over 2 million patients receiving treatment in western countries. Treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease is limited to dialysis and kidney transplantation, while the availability of donor organs remains scarce. Alternatively, transplantation of tissue engineered autologous kidney grafts could provide a better solution, eliminating the need for life-long immune-suppression in the recipient. 

The scaffold which is aimed to create will provide support to living cells to facilitate tissue engineering of a functional renal unit composed of human derived bloodvessel cells and human organoids derived renal epithelial cells. Using this artificial structure, it is aimed to guide the cells to grow into the desired morphology of a renal tubule, that lies within diffusion distance of a blood vessel to permit controlled exchange of water and solutes, thus allowing the unit to support natural renal function. 

This proof-of-concept study will provide first evidence that an artificial scaffold can be used to create a functional renal unit. The data would lay the foundation for further studies towards complex biofabricated renal tissues, and ultimately transplantable organs to treat end-stage renal disease patients.