Regeneration des Nierengewebes – zukünftige therapeutische Möglichkeit für Nierenerkrankungen?

The regeneration of organ tissues has been a legend in medicine since Prometheus. So far an improvement in organ regeneration by stem cells could only be demonstrated in myocardial tissue. Different organs obviously have different possibilities for regeneration. The kidneys also have the possibility to replace injured or destroyed tissue with stem cells. The reactivation of this regeneration potential can occur by various strategies which can be classified into three categories: i) multipotent adult progenitor cells regenerate kidney tissue directly or by the release of growth factors, ii) stem cells form new nephrons in the injured kidney and iii) kidney tissue is produced ex vivo by means of stem cells and then implanted as “bio-kidney tissue”. One of the medical challenges of the future is the necessary understanding of nephrogenesis and the interaction of the cell types involved in this process.