First transplant in pigs of modified porcine kidneys with human renal organoids
Researchers have developed a pioneering technology that enables human kidney organoids to be produced on a scalable basis. They can be combined with pig kidneys outside the body and transplanted back into the same animal in a viable manner
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
image:
- ENG: Confocal microscopy image of a kidney organoid on day 16 of differentiation. The cells have been labelled different colours using immunofluorescence to identify specific components: LTL (green: renal tubules), WT1 (red: podocytes), PODXL (yellow: podocytes) and DAPI (blue: cell nuclei). This image shows the organisation of the different cell types within the kidney organoid.
- ESP: Imagen de un organoide de riñón en el día 16 de diferenciación obtenida por microscopía confocal. Las células han sido marcadas con diferentes colores mediante la técnica de inmunofluorescencia para identificar componentes específicos: LTL (verde: túbulos renales), WT1 (rojo: podocitos), PODXL (amarillo: podocitos) y DAPI (azul: núcleos celulares). Esta imagen permite observar cómo se organizan los diferentes tipos de células dentro del organoide renal.
Credit: Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia
A research team led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and collaborating with the Biomedical Research Institute of A Coruña (INIBIC), as well as other international research groups, has developed pioneering technology that enables human kidney organoids to be produced in a scalable manner. This technology allows the organoids to be combined with pig kidneys outside the body and then transplanted back into the same animal to evaluate their viability. This breakthrough study, published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, is a significant milestone in regenerative and personalised medicine. It paves the way for the use of kidney organoids derived from human stem cells in cell therapy clinical trials.
Led by Dr Núria Montserrat, who was a principal investigator at IBEC at the time of the study and is now Minister of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia, this work is the result of over a decade of scientific research dedicated to regenerative medicine and organ bioengineering. As a result of this sustained research, the team has succeeded in combining human kidney organoids with live pig kidneys connected to normothermic perfusion machines for the first time. These devices are commonly used in operating rooms to keep organs alive and oxygenated outside the body prior to transplantation. They have enabled the research team to insert human organoids into pig kidneys and monitor their integration and function in real time.
“Our research shows that combining organoid and ex vivo perfusion technologies can enable cellular interventions under fully controlled conditions,” explains Dr Montserrat. ‘The long-term goal is to be able to regenerate or repair an organ before transplantation. This could reduce waiting times for chronic patients and increase the number of viable organs for transplantation.”
A scalable, secure technology
A kidney organoid is a three-dimensional structure measuring a few micrometres in size that is grown, in a laboratory, from human stem cells. While not a complete organ, it reproduces many of its main structures and functions. Thanks to these characteristics, organoids enable us to study kidney development, test new drugs, and it is hoped that they can eventually be used to repair damaged kidney tissue or improve organs intended for transplantation.
This study presents a systematic and scalable method for producing thousands of human kidney organoids using microaggregation and genetic engineering techniques, which is a first.
“Despite the great clinical potential of organoids, one of the major challenges in applying this technology to real medical treatments has been to produce these organoids in a scalable, uniform and affordable way. Now, with our new method, we can generate thousands of kidney organoids under controlled conditions in a short time with great precision, without the need for complex components. This opens the door to applications such as drug screening and disease research,' says Dr Elena Garreta, a senior researcher in the IBEC's Puripotency for Organ Regeneration group and a co-first author of the study.
Furthermore, perfusing the organoids within the kidneys using the aforementioned machines offers a key advantage: it allows the physiological parameters of the organ to be measured in real time, enabling any signs of damage or rejection to be detected immediately. Experiments were performed both ex vivo (outside the organism) and in vivo (in the same animal), using a porcine transplant model that is highly similar to the human kidney.
The research team observed that, 24 and 48 hours after transplantation, the human organoids remained integrated into the porcine renal tissue. They maintained their viability and did not trigger any significant immune response. The transplanted kidney continued to function normally and there were no signs of damage or toxicity.
Towards organ regeneration prior to transplantation
According to the authors, this methodology enables us to envisage a clinical scenario in which organs intended for transplantation can be treated and prepared prior to implantation. Collaboration with the Biomedical Research Institute of A Coruña (INIBIC), the National Transplant Organisation (ONT) and other institutions, such as the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), has been essential in transferring this research into a realistic preclinical surgical setting.
A collaborative, high-impact project.
The article, entitled “Systematic production of human kidney organoids for transplantation in porcine kidneys during ex vivo machine perfusion”, is the result of a collaboration between IBEC, CIBER-BBN, INIBIC, ONT, UB, the Navarra Health Research Institute, the Málaga Biomedical Research Institute, the University of California, the Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration in California, the Institute for Food Science Research (CSIC-UAM), the University Medical Centre Groningen, University Hospitals Leuven, the National Centre of Microbiology (ISCIII), the HM Hospitals Health Research Institute, the University of Leuven, CIBERONC, and the Networking Biomedical Research Centre in Bioengineering. The company EBERS Medical Technology SL, which developed the perfusion machines used, also participated in the work.
Dr Elena Garreta is an associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology at the University of Barcelona (UB).
Reference article
Elena Garreta, Daniel Moya-Rull, Alberto Centeno, Andrés Marco, Asier Ullate-Agote, Gaia Amato, Carlos J. Aranda, Roger Oria, Daniel Lozano-Ojalvo, Merel B. F. Pool, Tim L. Hamelink, Idoia Lucía Selfa, Federico González, Carolina Tarantino, Alejandro Montero Salinas, Patricia López San Martín, Priyanka Koshy, Aleix Gavaldà-Navarro, Amaia Vilas-Zornoza, Juan R. Rodríguez-Madoz, Antón Fernández García, Inmaculada Marquez-Leiva, Henri G. D. Leuvenink, Cristobal Belda-Iniesta, Maarten Naesens, Beatriz Dominguez-Gil, Marcelino González-Martín, Javier Rodríguez-Rivera, Jordi Ochando, Felipe Prosper, Cyril Moers & Nuria Montserrat. Systematic production of human kidney organoids for transplantation in porcine kidneys during ex vivo machine perfusion. Nature Biomedical Engineering (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41551-025-01542-1
About IBEC
The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) is a CERCA center, three times recognized as a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence, and holds the TECNIO label as a technology developer and business facilitator. IBEC is a member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and conducts multidisciplinary research at the forefront of engineering and life sciences to generate knowledge. The institute integrates fields such as nanomedicine, biophysics, biotechnology, tissue engineering, and applications of information technologies in the health sector. IBEC, established in 2005, is a collaborative effort of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the University of Barcelona (UB), and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC).
Journal
Nature Biomedical Engineering
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Animals
Article Title
Systematic production of human kidney organoids for transplantation in porcine kidneys during ex vivo machine perfusion
Article Publication Date
31-Oct-2025
Caption
- ENG: Porcine kidney connected to the normothermic perfusion machine. This device allows the kidney to be preserved alive and oxygenated ex vivo (outside the body). The image shows the moment of infusion of human renal organoids into the porcine kidney.
- ESP: Riñón porcino conectado a la máquina de perfusión normotérmica. Este dispositivo permite preservar el riñón vivo y oxigenado de manera ex vivo (fuera del cuerpo). La imagen muestra el momento de la infusión de los organoides renales humanos en el riñón porcino.
Credit
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia
Elena Garrtea - Statements in english [VIDEO]
Statements in English by Elena Garreta Bahima. Garreta is a senior researcher in the Pluripotency for Organ Regeneration group at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC, Associate Professor in the Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology at the University of Barcelona (UB) and a co-first author of the study.
Boradcast quality available here: https://ibecbarcelona-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/smoreira_ibecbarcelona_eu/EpazH57i0lJIraXPjk7rh7oBaFJujwFKzeA2gI2cH1apsg
Credit
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia
Kidney organoid 3D [VIDEO]
- ENG: Three-dimensional images (Z-stack) of kidney organoids on day 16 of differentiation obtained by confocal microscopy. The cells have been labelled with different colours using immunofluorescence to identify specific components: MEIS (green: interstitial cells), CD31 (red: endothelial cells), LTL (magenta: renal tubules) and DAPI (blue: cell nuclei). This image shows how the different cell types are organised within the kidney organoid. Organoid generated from the aggregation of 250,000 renal progenitor cells obtained from human pluripotent stem cells following a differentiation process.
Credit
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia
Lab B-roll [VIDEO]
- ENG: Elena Garreta Bahima y Daniel Moya Rull working in the laboratories of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). Garreta is a senior researcher in the Pluripotency for Organ Regeneration group at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC, Associate Professor in the Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology at the University of Barcelona (UB) and a co-first author of the study. Moya is a laboratory technician in the Pluripotency for Organ Regeneration group at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), and is also a co-first author of the study.
Boradcast quality video available here: https://ibecbarcelona-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/smoreira_ibecbarcelona_eu/EpazH57i0lJIraXPjk7rh7oBaFJujwFKzeA2gI2cH1apsg
Credit
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
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