This time, the group applied this technology to the kidney, which is known to have poor regenerative ability.Around 1/3 of the kidney of a pig that had been surgically resected was sutured around the kidney skeleton of another pig that had undergone "decellularization" and adhered. One month later, the adhered skeleton was analyzed. It is said that the regeneration of the nephron structure responsible for renal function was confirmed inside.There was no strong rejection, the fibrosis normally seen after excision was mild, and the resumption of blood flow was confirmed inside the regenerated kidney, even though the skeleton was originally a skeleton from which all cells had been removed. I was able to do that.

　Immature kidney cells have been found around the regenerated nephrons, suggesting that immature cells may contribute to the regeneration mechanism.In addition, the decellularized kidney (kidney skeleton) used in this study is found to have residual extracellular matrix, which is important as a scaffold for maintaining cell function even in the absence of cells, and becomes a large number of signal molecules. Protein was also detected.It is suggested that the extracellular matrix containing signal molecules remaining in the renal skeleton may promote cell migration and engraftment and induce self-regeneration and repair of the kidney.

　This research result, which is the first in the world to succeed in kidney regeneration in the body by using only the scaffold structure without inserting cells from the outside, is considered to accelerate the development of new kidney regenerative medicine technology.Furthermore, it is expected to be applied to other organs such as the liver.

Paper information:[NPJ Regenerative Medicine] An organ-derived extracellular matrix triggers in situ kidney regeneration in a preclinical model