The Use of Fibrous, Supramolecular Membranes and Human Tubular Cells for Renal Epithelial Tissue Engineering: Towards a Suitable Membrane for a Bioartificial Kidney

PYW Dankers, JM Boomker, A Huizinga-van de Vlag, Frank Smedts, MC Harmsen, MJA van Luyn

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

45 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A bioartificial kidney, which is composed of a membrane cartridge with renal epithelial cells, can substitute important kidney functions in patients with renal failure. A particular challenge is the maintenance of monolayer integrity and specialized renal epithelial cell functions ex vivo. We hypothesized that this can be improved by electro-spun, supramolecular polymer membranes which show clear benefits in ease of processability. We found that after 7 d, in comparison to conventional microporous membranes, renal tubular cells cultured on top of our fibrous supramolecular membranes formed polarized monolayers, which is prerequisite for a well-functioning bioartificial kidney. In future, these supramolecular membranes allow for incorporation of peptides that may increase cell function even further.
Original languageUndefined/Unknown
Pages (from-to)1345-1354
Number of pages10
JournalMacromolecular Bioscience
Volume10
Issue number11
Publication statusPublished - 2010

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