• Three-Dimensional Scaffold for Renal Tissue Engineering
  • Tuba Zendehboudi,1 Fatemeh Mohajer,2 Fatemeh Madadi,3 Zohreh Farrar,4 Niloofar Dehghan,5 Neda Baghban,6,*
    1. - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
    2. Student Research and Technology Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
    3. The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
    4. The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
    5. The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
    6. The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran


  • Introduction: Global reports show that the shortage of kidney transplants in the world has become a social crisis, and a large number of dialysis patients with severe renal failure are unable to use kidney transplantation and die due to the lack of donor organs as well as the high-cost and side effects of allografts transplants. These limitations have increased efforts to regenerate tissue using scaffolds and research in the field of 3D matrices in this field.
  • Methods: This study reviews advances in the area of three-dimensional scaffold for renal engineering approaches. In the present study, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases were searched to find relevant articles.
  • Results: Tissue engineering and advances in biomanufacturing methods suggest likely solutions for organ shortages; though, because of the complex structure of kidney, previous efforts have fallen short. Recently, strategies such as 3D bioprinting, photolithography, 3D self-assembly, molding or manipulation of bulk acoustic cells have been developed to mimic the layered tissue structure. These methods are widely used in tissue engineering for the bioengineering of multilobed structures and for the basic understanding of many microphysiological and pathological processes such as cell differentiation. In the field of constructing a 3D renal scaffold, where it is difficult to prepare in vitro samples, various strategies have been developed and many studies have been performed. For example, a decellularized kidney scaffold has been produced with structural, mechanical, and physiological properties necessary for engineering basic renal structures in vitro.
  • Conclusion: in vitro studies showed that the 3D printing method as a new method gives physicians the freedom to prepare a scaffold with the exact shape and size of damaged renal tissues using 3D design. However, this treatment method still needs more in vivo studies and clinical trials, but if successful, it can save many lives and is one of the low-cost and simple methods.
  • Keywords: Tissue Engineering, Renal, Kidney, Bioprinting