Kidney Glomerulus-on-a-Chip Advances Severe Kidney Disease Treatment

Study in a Sentence: Translational medicine researchers used the Mimetas® human kidney glomerulus-on-a-chip to investigate potential pharmaceutical interventions for patients with a severe kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).

Healthy for Humans: The glomerulus is the kidney’s primary filtering unit, and when this barrier is damaged, proteins and waste products can leak into urine, potentially leading to kidney failure. FSGS is characterized by scarring and dysfunction of the glomeruli. Identifying therapies that preserve glomerular health could slow disease progression and improve long-term patient outcomes.

Redefining Research: In this study, scientists used a human kidney glomerulus-on-a-chip to investigate the effects of vincristine, a chemotherapy drug, which demonstrated therapeutic benefit through protection of the kidney filtration barrier, stabilized gene activity, and preserved cell structure. Building on prior Mimetas® kidney-on-a-chip development, the study demonstrates better replication of human glomerular function and filtration rate and better prediction of drug efficacy and clinical outcomes, without animal experimentation