Tissue Eng Regen Med.  2018 Jun;15(3):301-310. 10.1007/s13770-017-0107-5.

A Non-woven Path: Electrospun Poly(lactic acid) Scaffolds for Kidney Tissue Engineering

• Burton TP
• Callanan A

• KMID: 2411878
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-017-0107-5

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease is a major global health problem affecting millions of people; kidney tissue engineering provides an opportunity to better understand this disease, and has the capacity to provide a cure. Two-dimensional cell culture and decellularised tissue have been the main focus of this research thus far, but despite promising results these methods are not without their shortcomings. Polymer fabrication techniques such as electrospinning have the potential to provide a non-woven path for kidney tissue engineering. In this experiment we isolated rat primary kidney cells which were seeded on electrospun poly(lactic acid) scaffolds. Our results showed that the scaffolds were capable of sustaining a multipopulation of kidney cells, determined by the presence of: aquaporin-1 (proximal tubules), aquaporin-2 (collecting ducts), synaptopodin (glomerular epithelia) and von Willebrand factor (glomerular endothelia cells), viability of cells appeared to be unaffected by fibre diameter. The ability of electrospun polymer scaffold to act as a conveyor for kidney cells makes them an ideal candidate within kidney tissue engineering; the non-woven path provides benefits over decellularised tissue by offering a high morphological control as well as providing superior mechanical properties with degradation over a tuneable time frame.

Keyword

Kidney tissue engineering; Scaffold architecture; Electrospinning; Primary cells; Renal

MeSH Terms

Animals
Aquaporin 2
Cell Culture Techniques
Global Health
Kidney*
Polymers
Rats
Renal Insufficiency, Chronic
Tissue Engineering*
von Willebrand Factor
Aquaporin 2
Polymers
von Willebrand Factor