Release date: 2016-10-26

According to the MIT Technology Review website on the 19th, Harvard University's materials scientist and bioengineering professor Jennifer Lewis's laboratory uses 3D printing technology to create the proximal tubules in the human kidney, which is the most basic unit of the kidney. An important structure that functions almost identically to the proximal tubules in healthy kidneys. New artificial tissue can be used to help patients with impaired kidney function in vitro, as well as to test new drug toxicity in drug development, an important step toward obtaining a portable artificial kidney.

Researchers have been trying to make artificial kidneys, but over the past 20 years, they have been unable to overcome the enormous challenges of the complex three-dimensional structure and internal honeycomb structure of the human kidney. The proximal tubule is the longest and thickest segment of the renal tubule, and is the "reabsorption" site of almost all glucose, amino acids and proteins in the original urine and most of the water, ions and urea.

The new artificial proximal tubule tissue was created by Louis Labs using their innovative bioprinting technology developed in the early days. Bioprinting technology utilizes a variety of different gel-like "inks". After printing, the ink is removed, leaving a hollow tube, and then adding cells to the empty tube to develop the desired tissue. This technology can be used to print complex structures in different tissues of the human body, including vascular systems that maintain tissue activity.

The world's population suffering from chronic kidney disease is as high as 10%, and millions of patients need to rely on dialysis to maintain their lives. However, dialysis machines cannot replace the kidneys after all, and often make patients very painful. They hope to relieve the pain through kidney transplants, but due to a shortage of kidneys, only 16,000 people are lucky enough to receive kidney transplants every year. Louis said that with artificial proximal tubules, the entire kidney can theoretically be synthesized, and perhaps in a few years, 3D printed kidneys can be transplanted for patients.

Currently, 3D printed proximal tubules have a wide range of medical uses, such as in vitro models that can be used to construct test drug effects; they can be used to develop extracorporeal devices that help kidney dialysis patients; in addition, approximately 20% of drugs are toxic to the kidneys in the human body. In clinical trials, the use of artificial kidney tissue to test drug toxicity in vitro can avoid the huge cost of human clinical trials.

On the one hand, many patients waiting for organ transplants are suffering, and on the other hand, the number of organs donated is extremely scarce. Therefore, people hope that the biological 3D printing technology will solve the urgent problem. Although it also has problems such as insufficient printing precision and rough cells, the continuous emergence of results is gradually pushing this technology forward. The most optimistic estimate is that a transplantable 3D printed kidney may take a decade to get to the practical application.

(Original title: 3D printed kidney important structure close to real function)

Source: China Science and Technology Network / Technology Daily

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