Establishment of an 'Ischemic Kidney Injury' Model Using 3D Tissue Chip Technology... Enables Comparative Evaluation of Therapeutics

Sejung Kim's Team at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital Nephrology Department
Reproduces Kidney Cell Damage Using 3D Tissue Chip Culture
Useful for Predicting Human Responses... Precisely Identifies Drug Effects

Professor Kim Sejung, Department of Nephrology, Bundang Seoul National University Hospital.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Professor Kim Se-jung of the Department of Nephrology at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital and CEO Choi Kyung-hyun’s research team at Biospero announced on the 12th that they have succeeded in establishing an ischemic kidney injury model using three-dimensional tissue chip technology.

The newly developed model replicates the microenvironment of the human kidney on a tissue chip to verify cell damage, and through sensors, it can evaluate the extent of kidney cell damage in real time, allowing for precise determination of drug efficacy.

“Acute kidney injury,” a sudden damage to kidney cells that weakens kidney function, is a relatively common condition occurring in about 10% of hospitalized patients. When acute kidney injury causes the kidney to malfunction, waste products are not excreted and accumulate in the body, making early detection and treatment crucial. Failure to treat early can lead to progression of damage, resulting in dangerous situations such as dialysis or death. Major causes of acute kidney injury include drug-induced kidney damage, ischemic kidney injury, and septic kidney injury.

Until now, ischemic kidney injury models have mainly been conducted through animal experiments, but there were limitations due to varying ischemic conditions (a state of insufficient blood flow supplying oxygen to organs) across laboratories and external factors such as laboratory temperature and weather. The three-dimensional tissue chip can maintain consistent ischemic conditions by controlling the oxygen partial pressure in the cell culture medium, and since it uses human cells, it is more useful than animal models for predicting human responses.

The research team used tissue chip technology in the field of microfluidics to culture human kidney cells and vascular cells on a three-dimensional tissue chip and succeeded in creating an ischemic environment by controlling the oxygen partial pressure of the cell culture medium. Professor Kim explained, “Through this study, we were able to faithfully reproduce the microenvironment within the human kidney on a tissue chip, providing a platform not only to study the pathophysiology of ischemic kidney injury but also to comparatively evaluate the effects of various antioxidant therapeutic agents.”

This study was published in the latest issue of the international journal ASC Biomaterials Science & Engineering.

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