Bio-engineered kidney successfully transplanted into lab specimen

As explained in Nature Medicine, on April 14th, scientists were able to rid a kidney of its original cells, repopulate it with stem cells, and show that it is now a fully functioning kidney that is able to produce urine by transplanting it into a rat. The original protein building blocks and outlines of a kidney are now known to hold the template that is needed to produce a new, functioning kidney. The discovery of this process may one aid in the alleviation of the shortening of the organ donor wait list, specifically, the kidney; in the presence of the kidney scaffolding, scientist hope that this process will be able to translate to humans. Currently, candidates for kidney transplants greatly outnumber the amount of possible donors.

At Harvard Medical School, scientist Harald Ott and his colleagues used rat cadavers as donors for the kidney building blocks. The kidneys were cleaned with a detergent that stripped the organ of its cells, while leaving the extracellular matrix intact. Afterwards, the donor kidneys were flooded with neonatal kidney cells that were able to grow into fully functioning, adult kidney cells. After the maturation of the cells, the kidney was able to become fully-functioning; once it functioned, researchers were able to then transplant the functioning organ into rats that had a kidney removed. The kidney then became fully functioning in the rat with the missing kidney. This is incredibly news in hopes that this technology can be performed in humans.

Genetic Link Between Kidney Defects and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

A new study conducted by Columbia University Medical Center, headed by Dr. Gharavi, shows that there is a link between kidney defects and mental illnesses. The study tested 522 children with malformed kidneys and 17% of them carried a CNV that contributed to their kidney disorder. CNV's, short for copy number variations, are extra copies or deletions of DNA that are just large enough to hold several genes. When CNV's are present, the affected gene occurs in a higher or lower dose than normal which can cause health disorders. The CNVs discovered in the study were also linked to developmental delays and mental illnesses, and 1 in 10 of the children had one. Dr. Gharavi said "Though it remains unclear why kidney malformations and neurodevelopment are linked in some cases, it is possible that the same genes involved in kidney development are involved in brain development." From this research they have concluded that nearly 10 percent of children who are born with kidney defects also have large  alterations in their genetic makeup which are linked with neurodevelopmental delay and mental illness.


"This changes the way we should handle these kids," said kidney specialist Ali  Gharavi. "If a physician sees a child with a kidney malformation, that is a warning sign  that the child has a genomic disorder that should be looked at immediately because of the risk of neurodevelopmental delay or mental illness later in  life," he said. This newly discovered linkage can help the start of personalized medical care. Eventually, an evaluation for genomic alterations will be part of the standard clinical workup and patients can recieve a more precise diagnosis. The underlying genetic defect of the patient will dictate what approach to take and what specific medication will work best for that patient.

I think this new dicovery is exactly where we need to be heading to improve our medical treatments. This research helps us group patients with kidney malformations not only into one big group but also into smaller subgroups also based on possible mental disorders. If we can do this for many different diseases then in the future doctors will be able to look at a person's own potential risk for certain illnesses. I think that this new study is intersting because it shows that personalized medicine is in our near future.

Genetics of Hypertension- Breakthrough in Understanding

It has long been known that kidneys have been involved in regulating blood pressure, however researchers from University of Leicester’s Department of Cardiovascular Sciences has found genes that play a big role in the process. The two genes are messenger RNAs (mRNA)  and micro RNAs (miRNA) which causes hypertension. Also, miRNA controls the expression of the hormone renin. Renin is one the biggest contributors to blood pressure regulation. They found out via study of 15 males with hypertension and 7 males with normal blood pressure. They analyzed and compared their genes mRNAs and miRNAs that are in the medulla. Messenger RNA is a single strand molecule that copies all the genetic information from DNA to mRNA strands to help make proteins. The process of converting mRNA to proteins is called miRNA. When compared they were able to tell which genes were playing a role in hypertension. I felt this article a bit confusing cause i understand how miRNA has a hormone called renin which has a big contribution in regulation blood pressure but how does mRNA play a role in this? I mean yes it copies material from DNA but what part of RNA really is controlling the blood pressure....however they found something to help people with hypertension and soon will figure out treatments.

Genes Causing High Blood Pressure

An article in Medical News Today, called Genetics of Hypertension, is about a recent discovery of the functions of messenger RNA (mRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and renin in the kidneys. The article tells about how they affect one another, causing hypertension of the blood.

Blood Pressure is defined as the force of the blood pushing against blood vessel walls. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is dangerous because it constricts the walls of the blood vessels, causing the heart to work harder to pump blood throughout the body.

The exact causes of high blood pressure are unknown, although scientists have been aware that kidneys play a role in blood pressure regulation. This is the first time that scientists have been able to identify specific genes that contribute to the process and also found miRNAs that control the expression of the hormone renin.

The findings were discovered during a gene expression analysis of the human kidneys. Researchers examined kidney tissue samples from 15 hypertensive males and 7 males with normal blood pressure and various techniques were used to study the mRNA and miRNA in the medulla and the cortex of the kidney.

Researchers commented on the findings saying that it is the first real evidence to implicate that the hormone renin is a cause of high blood pressure. The study also showed, specifically, which genes and miRNA produce renin. The results of this research has the potential to pave the way for new hypertension therapies and medicine.