Dynamic conditioning of porcine kidney grafts with extracellular vesicles derived from urine progenitor cells: A proof-of-concept study.

 : Among strategies to limit ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injuries in transplantation, cell therapy using stem cells to condition/repair transplanted organs appears promising. We hypothesized that using a cell therapy based on extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from urine progenitor cells (UPCs) during hypothermic and normothermic machine perfusion can prevent IR-related kidney damage. We isolated and characterized porcine UPCs and their extracellular vesicles (EVs).

Successful Derivation of Hepatoblasts, Cholangiocytes and Hepatocytes from Simian Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

The use of primary cells in human liver therapy is limited by a lack of cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent an alternative to primary cells as they are infinitely expandable and can be differentiated into different liver cell types. The aim of our work was to demonstrate that simian iPSCs (siPSCs) could be used as a new source of liver cells to be used as a large animal model for preclinical studies.

Molecular Networking for Drug Toxicities Studies: The Case of Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 Patients.

Using drugs to treat COVID-19 symptoms may induce adverse effects and modify patient outcomes. These adverse events may be further aggravated in obese patients, who often present different illnesses such as metabolic-associated fatty liver disease. In Rennes University Hospital, several drug such as hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have been used in the clinical trial HARMONICOV to treat COVID-19 patients, including obese patients.

In vitro recovery of FIX clotting activity as a marker of highly functional hepatocytes in a hemophilia B iPSC model.

Background And Aims: Pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocytes differentiated in monolayer culture are known to have more fetal than adult hepatocyte characteristics. If numerous studies tend to show that this immature phenotype might not necessarily be an obstacle to their use in transplantation, other applications such as drug screening, toxicological studies, or bioartificial livers are reliant on hepatocyte functionality and require full differentiation of hepatocytes. New technologies have been used to improve the differentiation process in recent years, usually evaluated by measuring the albumin production and CYP450 activity.

A Sodium Oxalate-Rich Diet Induces Chronic Kidney Disease and Cardiac Dysfunction in Rats.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health issue affecting 14% of the general population. However, research focusing on CKD mechanisms/treatment is limited because of a lack of animal models recapitulating the disease physiopathology, including its complications. We analyzed the effects of a three-week diet rich in sodium oxalate (OXA diet) on rats and showed that, compared to controls, rats developed a stable CKD with a 60% reduction in glomerular filtration rate, elevated blood urea levels and proteinuria.