Scientists have built an artificial kidney that enables the early detection of side effects of drugs. The basic structural and functional unit in the kidney is the nephron, which includes an interwoven network of small blood vessels called the glomerulus. This together with the glomerular capsules form the kidney.
The researchers fabricated a glomerular microvessel on a chip that includes glomerular endothelial cells, podocyte layers, and the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) using a one-step fabrication process.
Professor Dong-Woo Cho, who led the study from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea says “We have successfully replicated kidney glomerular units, which offer unlimited potential for drug screening and nephrotoxicity testing in clinical practice”.
The research results were published in the journal Biofabrication. While the kidneys eliminate toxic substances in the bloodstream, including metabolic wastes, and maintain homeostasis in the body, toxicity can still be induced in the kidneys by some drugs.
Artificial Organs
The nephron is the first organ to show drug toxicity when drugs are administered in excess to the body. Artificial organs are being developed to study the extent of toxicity induced by drugs before they are actually administered.
Constructing the kidney was a challenge, particularly because of the ability of the glomerulus, which is difficult to emulate, to release proteins following microscopic interactions between podocytes and GBM proteins.
The researchers successfully engineered a glomerular microvessel on a chip that replicated the complex arrangement of glomerular endothelial cells, podocyte layers, and GBM in a single step.
This chip enables the interaction of monolayer glomerular endothelium and podocyte epithelium, leading to the production of GBM proteins and demonstrating mature glomerular cell functionality.
The team further evaluated the model’s selective permeability, crucial for kidney function, and the model’s response to adriamycin- and hyperglycemia-induced injury.
“This development will allow us to detect drug toxicity early by facilitating the modeling of glomerular disease and providing patients with personalized treatment,” Cho said.
