Still finding ways to augment the existing management of acute and chronic kidney diseases with targeted gene and cell therapies: Opportunities and hurdles

Abstract

The rising global incidence of acute and chronic kidney diseases has increased the demand for renal replacement therapy. This issue, compounded with the limited availability of viable kidneys for transplantation, has propelled the search for alternative strategies to address the growing health and economic burdens associated with these conditions. In the search for such alternatives, significant efforts have been devised to augment the current and primarily supportive management of renal injury with novel regenerative strategies. For example, gene- and cell-based approaches that utilize recombinant peptides/proteins, gene, cell, organoid, and RNAi technologies have shown promising outcomes primarily in experimental models. Supporting research has also been conducted to improve our understanding of the critical aspects that facilitate the development of efficient gene- and cell-based techniques that the complex structure of the kidney has traditionally limited. This manuscript is intended to communicate efforts that have driven the development of such therapies by identifying the vectors and delivery routes needed to drive exogenous transgene incorporation that may support the treatment of acute and chronic kidney diseases.

Computational approaches for evaluating morphological changes in the corneal stroma associated with decellularization

“…Current histological assessments are performed in conjunction with DNA analyses to gauge the degree of decellularization. In the long-term, such algorithms may enhance decellularization characterizations by correlating the threshold concentrations of residual cellular material within the ECM that would unlikely elicit a negative remodeling response concerning the ECM source, tissue type into which the ECM is implanted, and host immune function (Crapo et al, 2011;Corridon, 2023a;Corridon, 2023b;Corridon, 2023c). Ultimately, this approach can eliminate the need for multiple-stage and time-consuming protocols and extend our ability further to examine the quality of residual ECM microstructure.…”

A scalable corneal xenograft platform: simultaneous opportunities for tissue engineering and circular economic sustainability by repurposing slaughterhouse waste

“…Comparable characterizations are carried out for scaffolds created from decellularization, which produces extracellular matrix-based substrates with attributes similar to the native xenografts for driving corneal regeneration ( Wilson et al, 2016 ; Polisetti et al, 2021 ). This process also sets the stage to develop associated artificial intelligence approaches that we can devise to can support xenograft characterizations ( Shakeel and Corridon, 2022a ; Corridon et al, 2022 ; Davidovic et al, 2022 ; Corridon, 2023a ; Pantic et al, 2023a ; Pantic et al, 2023b ; Pantic et al, 2023c ; Pantic et al, 2023d ).…”

A Proposed Model of Xeno-Keratoplasty Using 3D Printing and Decellularization

“…One promising approach to support this process is tissue/organ decellularization, which supports the generation of ECM-rich scaffolds that can be as templates to create viable corneal substitutes. Decellularization removes the cellular and genetic components of original tissues thereby decreasing immunogenicity, while maintaining biocompatibility, innate architecture, and various bioactive factors that can drive regeneration and remodeling in vivo [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. For instance, Xenia® is a custom-made product derived from decellularized porcine corneas [22][23][24].…”