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The Use of Fibrous, Supramolecular Membranes and Human Tubular Cells for Renal Epithelial Tissue Engineering: Towards a Suitable Membrane for a Bioartificial Kidney
Author(s) -
Dankers Patricia Y. W.,
Boomker Jasper M.,
der Vlag Ali Huizingavan,
Smedts Frank M. M.,
Harmsen Martin C.,
van Luyn Marja J. A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201000146
Subject(s) - membrane , tissue engineering , chemistry , biomedical engineering , materials science , biophysics , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , biology , biochemistry
A bioartificial kidney, which is composed of a membrane cartridge with renal epithelial cells, can substitute important kidney functions in patients with renal failure. A particular challenge is the maintenance of monolayer integrity and specialized renal epithelial cell functions ex vivo. We hypothesized that this can be improved by electro‐spun, supramolecular polymer membranes which show clear benefits in ease of processability. We found that after 7 d, in comparison to conventional microporous membranes, renal tubular cells cultured on top of our fibrous supramolecular membranes formed polarized monolayers, which is prerequisite for a well‐functioning bioartificial kidney. In future, these supramolecular membranes allow for incorporation of peptides that may increase cell function even further.