Growing Kidneys in Lymph Nodes

Carl Bates, MD, and Sunder Sims-Lucas, PhD, of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, in collaboration with Eric Lagasse, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, are developing a novel approach to regenerate kidney tissues.

The group has discovered that embryonic kidney fragments and isolated nephron progenitors have the potential to form perfused kidney structures when injected into mouse lymph nodes. The Bates, Sims-Lucas, and Lagasse laboratories have received a Pediatric Device Initiative Award sponsored by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in support of their work.