Cultured kidney cell layer is a step towards dialysis using living cells

Oops, sorry, didn't see the previous thread okarol posted. Attached is a good youtube animation of the kidney dialysis using synthetic membrane.
Published on: 16 November, 2010

Researchers at TU/e and the UMC Groningen have succeeded in culturing a layer of kidney cells in the
lab. These cells maintained their functional properties, and are able to purify blood. This is an
important step towards improved kidney dialysis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWHC5OOetiA
Animation video still showing kidney cells above bioactive membrane. Image: ICMS Animation Studio,
TU/e.

The key to this success is a new kind of bioactive synthetic membrane. This membrane, which is
developed at TU/e, has a structure resembling that of human basement membrane in the kidney. The
ultimate aim of the scientists is to be able to grow whole biological artificial kidneys using
autologous cells.

Kidney function is vitally important; for example the kidneys filter toxic metabolic waste products
from the blood. Many people suffer from kidney failure, and more than 6000 people in the Netherlands
(and over 350.000 in the United States) require artificial blood cleansing by kidney dialysis.
Unfortunately this technique is not yet perfect: its purifying capacity is only 15 to 20% of that of
healthy kidneys. Scientists are therefore looking for ways to restore kidney function using cultured
kidney cells.

Nanofibers
Dr. Patricia Dankers, who has a central role in this research, explains that there are two essential
characteristics of the synthetic membranes on which she cultures the kidney cells: their structure and
their bioactivity. Structurally the membranes consist of nanofibers that are part of larger,
micrometer-size fibers. This structure resembles that of a human kidney membrane. The kidney cells
grow on this fibrous membrane, but cease to function after several days. Dankers was only able to
maintain the cell function by adding bioactive signals to the synthetic membrane.

Signals
These signals enable the kidney cells to adhere and survive, and ensure that they continue to
function. Dankers was able to achieve this by supramolecular attachment of bioactive peptides (small
pieces of protein) to the synthetic membranes. To do this Dankers used a kind of ‘Velcro’ binding,
also relatively recently developed at TU/e. This allows the bioactive groups to be coupled to the
membrane without the complex processes that were formerly needed.

Better dialysis
The researchers now intend to work on a biological artificial kidney to supplement the existing
dialysis systems. This will increase the quality of dialysis treatment, because the kidney cells are
able to filter exactly the right substances out of the blood. Dankers also hopes that the kidney cells
will, in the longer term, produce hormones made by normal kidneys. These are important in making red
blood cells, for example. However she is unable to say how long it may take to reach this stage. “It’s
difficult to predict, and we don’t want to create unrealistic expectations.”

After that the next step will be to develop a mobile dialysis system, so that kidney patients do not
repeatedly have to visit hospitals. “Our ultimate dream is to make an implantable, living artificial
kidney”, says Dankers.

The results are published in two articles in scientific journals. The research about the fibrous
structure appears in the November edition of Macromolecular Bioscience, while the addition of
bioactive signals is published in Biomaterials (DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2010.09.020).

This animation video from the animation studio of ICMS (Institute for Complex Molecular Systems) shows
the most important processes in this research.

Dankers (TU/e department of Biomedical Engineering) carried out her research together with the
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), the Nierstichting (Kidney Foundation), SupraPolix BV and
the TU/e Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS). The follow-up research project is being
carried out, among others, through the Biomedical Materials (BMM) program of the BioKid consortium, in
which a number of Dutch universities and academic medical centers, two companies and the Nierstichting
are working together.

http://tinyurl.com/3a99xvd