Department of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
J Tissue Eng Regen Med. 2012 Nov;6(10):786-92. doi: 10.1002/term.484. Epub 2011 Nov 3.
To tissue engineer a kidney is a formidable task because of the complex cell composition and structures in the kidney. This study reconstructed renal tissues using mixed renal cells in collagen/Matrigel® scaffolds in vitro. Neonatal rat renal cells were seeded in collagen I supplemented with Matrigel in a casting mold that could exert static stretch when the renal constructs contracted. During in vitro culture, the renal constructs were observed under microscope and analyzed by histological and immunofluorescent examinations. Results showed that the mixed renal cells reconstituted renal tubular and glomeruli-like structures with different appearances at varying developmental stages. Tubular structures were formed by CK18-positive cells with similar appearances lining the surrounding hollow centres. The glomeruli-like structures were tufts of cell aggregates containing Flk-1-positive cells. These results show that neonatal rat renal cells self-assembled into engineered renal tissues containing both tubules and glomeruli-like structures when cultured in 3D collagen/Matrigel scaffold in vitro.
组织工程肾脏是一项艰巨的任务，因为肾脏的细胞组成和结构非常复杂。本研究使用混合肾细胞在胶原/Matrigel®支架中体外重建肾组织。将新生大鼠肾细胞接种在补充有 Matrigel 的胶原 I 中，在铸造模具中，当肾构建物收缩时可以施加静态拉伸。在体外培养过程中，在显微镜下观察肾构建物，并通过组织学和免疫荧光检查进行分析。结果表明，混合肾细胞在不同发育阶段重建了具有不同外观的肾小管和肾小球样结构。管状结构由 CK18 阳性细胞组成，这些细胞具有相似的外观，排列在周围的中空中心周围。肾小球样结构是一簇含有 Flk-1 阳性细胞的细胞聚集物。这些结果表明，当在 3D 胶原/Matrigel 支架中体外培养时，新生大鼠肾细胞会自我组装成包含肾小管和肾小球样结构的工程化肾组织。
