03/03/2022
Keio University School of Medicine
A research group led by Project Assistant Professor Kazuki Tajima, Senior Assistant Professor Hiroshi Yagi, and Professor Yuko Kitagawa of the Department of Surgery (General and Gastroenterological), Keio University School of Medicine, has succeeded for the first time in the world in regenerating a portion of a partially resected kidney within a pig's body. This was achieved by applying a technique called "decellularization," which removes cells from an animal kidney to leave only the organ's scaffold, mainly composed of effective components like collagen. Kidneys are known to have poor regenerative capacity, but the interior of the successfully regenerated kidney in this study reproduced the detailed structures of glomeruli, blood vessels, and renal tubules, which constitute the nephron—a crucial structure for kidney function. Furthermore, it was shown that partial blood flow was restored in the regenerated area. This research is highly significant in that it was able to induce the kidney's self-regeneration function using only a scaffold structure without introducing external cells, and it is expected to contribute to the realization of new kidney regenerative medicine in the future.
The results of this research were published in the online edition of the international academic journal "NPJ Regenerative Medicine" on February 28, 2022 (JST).
Please see below for the full press release.