Tissue engineering scaffolds aim to completely reproduce the anatomical structure and environment of part of the organ or the entire organ itself. This is an extremely promising method as it would serve as a readymade transplantable kidney or section to replace a damaged one that would also mimic the in vivo
6
environment. Two of the most common methods of developing scaffolds are decellularized organs and biocompatible polymers. The advantage of developing a whole scaffold would enable an organ to be entirely transplanted into a patient without the need of waiting on a donor. Additionally, the patient’s own cells would be able to be seeded into the scaffold to reduce the chance of rejection.
Biocompatible scaffolds have shown great promise …show more content…
Although the extension to biopolymers to regenerate whole organs may be far off, much progress has been made to show the effective use of them in regenerating renal cells and function. Decellularized scaffolds are organs that have been explanted and then removed of the host organism’s cells. This can be done in several ways such as agitating in a bioreactor filled with sterile solution to disrupt cell membranes, soaking the organ in a detergent solution to extract cellular material, and scraping or washing with a solution to remove cellular material [15]. Decellularization is done carefully in order to ensure that the host cells are removed but the interstitial structure of the membrane remains intact. One of the main benefits of decellularization is that the ECM that is left behind is biologically identical to the ECM that is within the body, making it the perfect template to seed cells or other materials within. Additionally, the patient’s own diseased kidney can be removed and decellularized to create their own disease-free scaffold to recellularize, as long as the disease does not affect the connective tissue [15]. Once the organ has been removed of cells, it can …show more content…
The implementation into human study would be much more effective due to the source of stem cells originating in bone marrow at any age. Additionally, the injection of cells into gels or media that contain growth factors or other cells has shown great improveme nt of cellular regeneration compared to stem cells implanted alone. The addition of these cells into scaffolds has shown even greater promise in creating a potential replacement for diseased kidneys. Decellularized kidneys provide a functional structure with the same ECM contained within the body. Stem cells can be injected directly into this scaffold and the implantation of these into rat subjects has shown complete acceptance and function of the replaced kidney. Biopolymer scaffolds seeded with ECM cells and stem cells has been shown to be effective in recreating portions of organs and successfully implementing the host’s cells into the transplanted scaffold.
Finally, the recently emerging organ printing has shown great promise in developing a new app roach to create kidney replacements. Miniature sized kidneys have been successfully printed but further research must be done on the effectiveness of these scaffolds in vitro and in
6
environment. Two of the most common methods of developing scaffolds are decellularized organs and biocompatible polymers. The advantage of developing a whole scaffold would enable an organ to be entirely transplanted into a patient without the need of waiting on a donor. Additionally, the patient’s own cells would be able to be seeded into the scaffold to reduce the chance of rejection.
Biocompatible scaffolds have shown great promise …show more content…
Although the extension to biopolymers to regenerate whole organs may be far off, much progress has been made to show the effective use of them in regenerating renal cells and function. Decellularized scaffolds are organs that have been explanted and then removed of the host organism’s cells. This can be done in several ways such as agitating in a bioreactor filled with sterile solution to disrupt cell membranes, soaking the organ in a detergent solution to extract cellular material, and scraping or washing with a solution to remove cellular material [15]. Decellularization is done carefully in order to ensure that the host cells are removed but the interstitial structure of the membrane remains intact. One of the main benefits of decellularization is that the ECM that is left behind is biologically identical to the ECM that is within the body, making it the perfect template to seed cells or other materials within. Additionally, the patient’s own diseased kidney can be removed and decellularized to create their own disease-free scaffold to recellularize, as long as the disease does not affect the connective tissue [15]. Once the organ has been removed of cells, it can …show more content…
The implementation into human study would be much more effective due to the source of stem cells originating in bone marrow at any age. Additionally, the injection of cells into gels or media that contain growth factors or other cells has shown great improveme nt of cellular regeneration compared to stem cells implanted alone. The addition of these cells into scaffolds has shown even greater promise in creating a potential replacement for diseased kidneys. Decellularized kidneys provide a functional structure with the same ECM contained within the body. Stem cells can be injected directly into this scaffold and the implantation of these into rat subjects has shown complete acceptance and function of the replaced kidney. Biopolymer scaffolds seeded with ECM cells and stem cells has been shown to be effective in recreating portions of organs and successfully implementing the host’s cells into the transplanted scaffold.
Finally, the recently emerging organ printing has shown great promise in developing a new app roach to create kidney replacements. Miniature sized kidneys have been successfully printed but further research must be done on the effectiveness of these scaffolds in vitro and in