28 November 2014

A new step towards creating a bioengineered kidney

Japanese scientists managed to grow kidney nephrons from stem cells

Ksenia Naka, RIA NovostiA group of scientists from Okayama University in Japan has announced the successful creation of nephrons – the structure–forming element of the kidney - from rat stem cells.

During the experiment, scientists took somatic stem cells from a rat kidney, and then, adding five types of proteins, after 3-4 weeks they grew a cellular structure from them that coincided in structure with nephrons.

"The creation of organs from stem cells has been a long-standing dream of mankind. It is already known about the successful creation of retinal cells, brain fragments and liver. But for the first time in the world, it was possible to recreate a structure that strikingly coincides with the structure of a real kidney," the university said in a statement.

Nephrons are the structural unit of the kidney and are responsible for the removal of harmful substances from the blood, there are about one million nephrons in the kidney.

Scientists believe that the experiment will be the first step for research to recreate the structure of the kidney, which in the future may open up new cardinal ways of treating chronic kidney disease.

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