Regeneration of Renal Tissues
The kidney is a vital and complex organ that performs many critical functions [1–3]. It is responsible for filtering the body’s wastes, such as urea, from the blood and excreting them as urine. In addition to the excretory function, the kidney maintains t
- PDF / 416,385 Bytes
- 7 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 35 Downloads / 155 Views
Contents 60.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869
60.2
Basic Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869
60.3
Approaches for Renal Tissue Regeneration 870
60.3.1 Developmental Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . 870 60.3.2 Tissue Engineering Approaches . . . . . . . . . 871 60.4
Regeneration of Functional Tissue In Vivo 872
60.5
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874
60.1
Introduction
The kidney is a vital and complex organ that performs many critical functions [1–3]. It is responsible for filtering the body’s wastes, such as urea, from the blood and excreting them as urine. In addition to the excretory function, the kidney maintains the body’s homeostasis by regulating acid-base balance, blood pressure, and plasma volume. Moreover, it synthesizes 1, 25 vitamin D3, erythropoietin, glutathione, and free radical scavenging enzymes. It is also known that the kidney participates in the catabolism of low molecular weight proteins and in the production and regulation of cytokines [4–6]. There are many conditions where the kidney functions are diminished and these lead to renal failure. End stage renal failure is a devastating condition which involves multiple organs in affected
60
individuals. Although dialysis can prolong survival via filtration, other kidney functions are not replaced, leading to long-term consequences such as anemia and malnutrition [2, 3, 7]. Currently, renal transplantation is the only definitive treatment that can restore full kidney function. However, transplantation has several limitations, such as critical donor shortage, complications due to chronic immunosuppressive therapy and graft failure [2, 3, 7]. The limitations of current therapies for renal failure have led investigators to explore the development of alternative therapeutic modalities that could improve, restore, or replace renal function. The emergence of cell-based therapies using tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies has presented alternative possibilities for the management of pathologic renal conditions [1, 7–13]. The concept of kidney cell expansion followed by cell transplantation using tissue engineering and regenerative medicine techniques has been proposed as a method to augment either isolated or total renal function. Despite the fact that the kidney is considered to be one of the more challenging organs to regenerate and/or reconstruct, investigative advances made to date have been promising [8, 10–12].
60.2
Basic Components
The unique structural and cellular heterogeneity present within the kidney creates many challenges for tissue regeneration. The system of nephrons and
870
collecting ducts within the kidney is composed of multiple functionally and morphologically distinct segments. For this reason, appropriate conditions need to be provided for the long-term survival, differentiation, and growth of many types of cells. Recent ef
Data Loading...
