Check Immune Rejection Responses in Advance Before Artificial Organ Transplantation

Ex vivo blood circulation system simulation using artificial blood vessels. Photo by KIST.

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Domestic researchers have developed a technology that can preemptively check for immune rejection reactions before implanting artificial organs into the human body.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced on the 7th that Dr. Youngmi Jeong's research team at the Biomaterials Research Center, in collaboration with Professor Jae-seok Yang's team at Seoul National University Hospital Organ Transplant Center, developed a bioartificial blood vessel and circulatory vascular platform that mimics the function and physical properties of blood vessels to verify the success of implantable artificial organs before transplantation into the human body.

A representative immune rejection reaction that occurs when artificial organs or medical devices are implanted in the body is the problem of blood clotting and blockage of blood vessels after the organ and recipient's blood vessels are connected. Until now, the only way to confirm this was by transplanting organs into humans or animals. In particular, the blood clotting reaction could not be verified without an environment similar to actual blood-flowing blood vessels.

Dr. Youngmi Jeong developed artificial blood vessels by using a simple method of filling a tube-shaped mold made from collagen and fibrin, the main components of blood vessels, with liquid hydrogel, solidifying it at 37 degrees Celsius, the same temperature as the human body, and then compressing it, enabling blood circulation similar to real blood vessels. In existing artificial blood vessel structures, endothelial cells had to be cultured for 7 to 21 days to produce blood vessels. The new artificial blood vessels allowed endothelial cells to attach stably in a short time, enabling blood vessel production within 3 days, significantly reducing experimental time when applied as an analysis tool.

The developed artificial blood vessel platform can be used not only for in vitro experiments but also for in vivo experiments using animal models. The research team cultured genetically modified pig endothelial cells on the vascular endothelium of the vascular platform to create artificial pig blood vessels and conducted in vitro tests by circulating human blood. They also performed in vivo tests by transplanting artificial pig blood vessels into mouse models induced to have immune responses similar to humans. As a result, they confirmed that vascular samples produced with specific genes manipulated by the research team effectively suppressed acute immune rejection reactions. This confirmed the possibility that genetically modified pigs could be used as organ donor animals with reduced immune rejection.

Dr. Youngmi Jeong of KIST said, "The circulatory artificial blood vessel platform is not only structurally similar to real blood vessels but also mimics the physical and biological characteristics of blood vessels, creating a microenvironment similar to our body's circulatory system." She added, "Because the production method is simple, it can also be used as a preclinical tool for vascular-related new drugs or immunotherapies developed by companies or hospitals, making it commercially valuable."

The research results were published in the latest issue of the international journal Science Advances (IF: 14.136, JCR top 4.93%).

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