Cell therapy to improve kidney graft quality prior to transplantation.

End stage kidney disease (ESRD) is the result of a permanent failure of the kidneys affecting hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. The most efficient and preferred treatment of patients with ESRD is kidney transplantation. However, the number of kidneys available for transplantation is insufficient for the growing number of patients on the waiting lists. Unfortunately, because of the age of the donors or improper manipulation during the surgery, some human grafts are discarded for transplantation. In this project I will use kidney stem/progenitor cells for cell therapy aiming to improve the quality of kidneys before transplantation to increase the number of organs available. In my PhD project I  have characterized these kidney progenitor cells and proved their effectiveness for regenerative medicine. Before testing cell therapy in human kidneys, I’m going to optimize the methodology using porcine kidneys. To mimic the process of transplantation, I will induce damage during warm ischemia and later attach these kidneys to a normothermic machine perfusion device where preservation solution and stem/progenitor cells will circulate within the kidneys. Finally, the whole blood of the pig is going to be reperfused in the kidneys. I am going to evaluate the outcomes through a careful analysis of histology, injury markers, volume of urine produced and inulin-clearance. When successful, I am going to translate the established methodology to some discarded human kidneys.