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Regenerating a kidney in a lymph node

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Abstract

The ultimate treatment for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is orthotopic transplantation. However, the demand for kidney transplantation far exceeds the number of available donor organs. While more than 100,000 Americans need a kidney, only 17,000 people receive a kidney transplant each year (National Kidney Foundation’s estimations). In recent years, several regenerative medicine/tissue engineering approaches have been exploited to alleviate the kidney shortage crisis. Although these approaches have yielded promising results in experimental animal models, the kidney is a complex organ and translation into the clinical realm has been challenging to date. In this review, we will discuss cell therapy-based approaches for kidney regeneration and whole-kidney tissue engineering strategies, including our innovative approach to regenerate a functional kidney using the lymph node as an in vivo bioreactor.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Ri.MED Foundation (M.G.F.), by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (E.L.), and by the US National Institutes of Health grant R01 DK085711 (E.L.). We thank Lynda Guzik for proofreading and editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 450 Technology Drive. Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA

    Maria Giovanna Francipane & Eric Lagasse

  2. Ri.MED Foundation, 90133, Palermo, Italy

    Maria Giovanna Francipane

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  1. Maria Giovanna Francipane
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  2. Eric Lagasse
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Correspondence to Maria Giovanna Francipane.

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Francipane, M.G., Lagasse, E. Regenerating a kidney in a lymph node. Pediatr Nephrol 31, 1553–1560 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-015-3296-y

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