Harnessing Science to Restore Kidney Function

Thursday - August 31 2023, 04:14 UTC - 1 year ago

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have developed a device called a bioreactor that can successfully mimic several important kidney functions. The device is part of The Kidney Project, a collaborative effort between UCSF and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, with the aim of creating an artificial kidney device that outmatches dialysis in terms of effectiveness and comfort for those dealing with kidney failure.

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) are working on a new approach to treating kidney failure that could one day free people from needing dialysis or having to take harsh drugs to suppress their immune system after a transplant. They have shown for the first time that kidney cells, housed in an implantable device called a bioreactor, can survive inside the body of a pig and mimic several important kidney functions. The device can work quietly in the background, like a pacemaker, and does not trigger the recipient’s immune system to go on the attack.

The findings, published in Nature Communications today (August 29, 2023), are an important step forward for The Kidney Project, which is jointly headed by UCSF’s Shuvo Roy, PhD (technical director) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s William H. Fissell, MD (medical director). Eventually, scientists plan to fill the bioreactor with different kidney cells that perform vital functions like balancing the body’s fluids and releasing hormones to regulate blood pressure – then pair it with a device that filters waste from the blood. The aim is to produce a human-scale device to improve on dialysis, which keeps people alive after their kidneys fail but is a poor substitute for having a real working organ. More than 500,000 people in the U.S. require dialysis several times a week. Many seek kidney transplants, but there are not enough donors, and only about 20,000 people receive them each year. An implantable artificial kidney would be a boon.

"We are focused on safely replicating the key functions of a kidney," said Roy, a bioengineering professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy. "The bioartificial kidney will make treatment for kidney disease more effective and also much more tolerable and comfortable." .

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have developed a new approach to treating kidney failure that could one day free people from the need for dialysis or immunosuppressive drugs for transplant. With the use of an implantable device called a bioreactor, scientists were able to successfully mimic several important kidney functions without triggering an immune response from the recipient’s body. This is an important advancement for The Kidney Project, a collaborative effort between UCSF and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The ultimate goal is to create an artificial kidney device that outmatches dialysis in terms of effectiveness and comfort. Currently, over 500,000 Americans require dialysis, and there are not enough available donors to meet the need. This makes finding a better solution critical if patients are to survive kidney failure.