Regeneration of kidney tissue using in vitro cultured fetal kidney cells

• Published in: Experimental & molecular medicine Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 361 - 369
• Main Authors: Kim, Sang-Soo, Gwak, So-Jung, Han, Joungho, Park, Moon Hyang, Song, Kang Won, Kim, Byung-Soo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 31.08.2008; Springer Nature B.V; Korean Society of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; 생화학분자생물학회
• Subjects: Animals; Apoptosis - physiology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Proliferation; Cells, Cultured; Cellular Senescence - physiology; Colony-Forming Units Assay; Female; Fetal Tissue Transplantation - methods; Fetal Tissue Transplantation - physiology; Fetus - cytology; Fetus - physiology; Kidney - embryology; Kidney - physiology; Medical Biochemistry; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude; Molecular Medicine; Original; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Regeneration - physiology; Stem Cells; 생화학; cell transplantation; kidney; fetal stem cells; tissue engineering; cell proliferation; cell aging; apoptosis
• ISSN: 1226-3613; 2092-6413
• DOI: 10.3858/emm.2008.40.4.361

Transplanting fetal kidney cells (FKCs) can regenerate kidney. This requires in vitro expansion in cell number to acquire enough cells for transplantation. However, FKCs may change their cellular characteristics during expansion and, thus, may not regenerate kidney tissue upon transplantation. We investigated how cell culture period affects cellular characteristics and in vivo regenerative potential of FKCs. As the passage number increased, cell growth rate and colony forming ability decreased while senescence and apoptosis increased. To examine in vivo regenerative potential, FKCs cultured through different numbers of passages were implanted into the parenchyma of kidneys of immunodeficient mice using fibrin gel for 4 wk. Histological analyses showed passage-dependent kidney tissue regeneration, and the regeneration was better when cells from lower number of passages were implanted. This result shows that in vitro culture of FKCs significantly affects the cell characteristics and in vivo tissue regenerative potential.