(ORDO NEWS) — In the fight against numerous human kidney diseases, great hopes are placed on stem cells. Now scientists have managed to obtain both types of fetal kidney tissues “in vitro”, which in the future can provide an influx of donor organs.
One in nine adults in the world has some kind of kidney disease, and the number of people suffering from kidney failure is steadily increasing.
The possibility of growing healthy kidney tissue in the laboratory can both speed up the process of treating a diseased organ and completely restore its lost functions.
In the process of intrauterine development, the kidney is formed from two types of tissue – the metanephric mesenchyme and the rudiment of the ureter.
Previously, researchers were able to obtain a metanephric mesenchyme from pluripotent stem cells, and now they have successfully grown the rudiment of a human ureter in the laboratory.
In addition to the process of transformation of stem cells into the bud of the ureter, scientists were able to observe how the two types of tissue interact to form a full-fledged kidney. Usually this process occurs only in the body of the embryo.
In the future, tissues grown in this way can not only be used for transplantation: they can also safely test experimental treatments.
For example, an in vitro grown ureteral primordium will help to cope with certain genetic diseases of the collecting system of the kidneys, such as polycystic disease.
While it’s too early to talk about creating an entire kidney in the lab, people are now one step closer to making this breakthrough in science and medicine.
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