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Using cutting edge technology to bioprint mini-kidneys

Embargoed until: Publicly released:
Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.

Experimental study: At least one thing in the experiment was changed to see if it had an impact on the subjects (often people or animals) – eg: changing the amount of time mice spend on an exercise wheel to find out what impact it has on weight loss.

People: This is a study based on research using people.

Researchers have used cutting edge technology to bioprint miniature human kidneys in the lab, paving the way for new treatments for kidney failure and possibly lab-grown transplants. Similar to the process used to 3D print materials like metal and concrete, 3D bioprinted mini kidneys were created using a paste of stem cells, gradually forming tissue sheets

Journal/conference: Nature Materials

Link to research (DOI): 10.1038/s41563-020-00853-9

Organisation/s: Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), The University of Melbourne

Funder: The study was supported by Organovo, California’s Stem Cell Agency (EDUC2-08388), NHMRC (GNT1100970, GNT1098654), the National Institutes of Health (UH3DK107344) and a Medical Research Future Fund Kidney Disease Team grant. M.H.L. is a Senior Principal Research Fellow of the NHMRC (APP1136085).

Media release

From: Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI)

Research at a Glance:

  • Researchers have used cutting edge technology to bioprint 3D human mini-kidneys in the lab, paving the way for new treatments for kidney failure
  • Similar to the process used to 3D print materials like metal and concrete, 3D bioprinted mini kidneys were created using a paste of stem cells, gradually forming tissue sheets
  • The new study found the 3D bioprinting process rapidly and reproducibly generated large numbers of mini kidneys with structure similar to a real kidney. The team also validated the use of 3D bioprinted human mini kidneys for screening of drug toxicity from a class of drugs known to cause kidney damage in people.
  • The researchers stated eventually lab-based 3D bioprinting may produce enough functional kidney tissue needed for transplants

Researchers have used cutting edge technology to bioprint miniature human kidneys in the lab, paving the way for new treatments for kidney failure and possibly lab-grown transplants.

The study, led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and biotech company Organovo and published in Nature Materials, saw the research team also validate the use of 3D bioprinted human mini kidneys for screening of drug toxicity from a class of drugs known to cause kidney damage in people.

The research showed how 3D bioprinting of stem cells can produce large enough sheets of kidney tissue needed for transplants.

Like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube, extrusion-based 3D bioprinting uses a ‘bioink’ made from a stem cell paste, squeezed out through a computer-guided pipette to create artificial living tissue in a dish.

MCRI researchers teamed up with San Diego based Organovo Inc to create the mini organs.

MCRI Professor Melissa Little, a world leader in modelling the human kidney, first began growing kidney organoids in 2015. But this new bio-printing method is faster, more reliable and allows the whole process to be scaled up. 3D bioprinting could now create about 200 mini kidneys in 10 minutes without compromising quality, the study found.

From larger than a grain of rice to the size of a fingernail, bioprinted mini-kidneys fully resemble a regular-sized kidney, including the tiny tubes and blood vessels that form the organ’s filtering structures called nephrons.

Professor Little said by using mini-organs her team hope to screen drugs to find new treatments for kidney disease or to test if a new drug was likely to injure the kidney.

“Drug-induced injury to the kidney is a major side effect and difficult to predict using animal studies. Bioprinting human kidneys are a practical approach to testing for toxicity before use,” she said.

In this study, the toxicity of aminoglycosides, a class of antibiotics that commonly damage the kidney, were tested.

“We found increased death of particular types of cells in the kidneys treated with aminoglycosides,” Professor Little said.

“By generating stem cells from a patient with a genetic kidney disease, and then growing mini kidneys from them, also paves the way for tailoring treatment plans specific to each patient, which could be extended to a range of kidney diseases.”

Professor Little said the study showed growing human tissue from stem cells also brought the promise of bioengineered kidney tissue.

“3D bioprinting can generate larger amounts of kidney tissue but with precise manipulation of biophysical properties, including cell number and conformation, improving the outcome,” she said.

Currently, 1.5 million Australians are unaware they are living with early signs of kidney disease such as decreased urine output, fluid retention and shortness of breath.

Professor Little said prior to this study the possibility of using mini kidneys to generate transplantable tissue was too far away to contemplate.

“The pathway to renal replacement therapy using stem cell-derived kidney tissue will need a massive increase in the number of nephron structures present in the tissue to be transplanted,” she said.

“By using extrusion bioprinting, we improved the final nephron count, which will ultimately determine whether we can transplant these tissues into people.”

Publication: Kynan T. Lawlor, Jessica M. Vanslambrouck, J. William Higgins, Alison Chambon, Kristina Bishard, Derek Arndt, Pei Xuan Er, Sean B. Wilson, Sara E. Howden, Ker Sin Tan, Fanyi Li, Lorna J. Hale, Benjamin Shepherd, Stephen Pentoney, Sharon C. Presnell, Alice E. Chen and Melissa H. Little. ‘Cellular extrusion bioprinting improves kidney organoid reproducibility and conformation,’ Nature Materials. DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-00853-9.

*The content of this communication is the sole responsibility of MCRI and does not reflect the views of the NHMRC.

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