First fetus-to-fetus transplant demonstrated in rats
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The transplanted tissue grew into a kidney with identifiable parts, and the host's blood vessels began infiltrating it. Credit: K. Morimoto et al./bioRxiv
Surgeons in Japan have transplanted kidney tissue from one rat fetus to another, while the recipient was still in its mother's womb. Study lead Takashi Yokoo, a nephrologist at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo, says the surgery is the first step to one day transplanting fetal pig kidneys into human fetuses that develop without functioning kidneys.
“Our project is the first of its kind,” says Yokoo. Researchers have previously injected cells and amniotic fluid into fetuses1, including human ones, but these are the first reports of organ and tissue transplants in utero, he says.
Transplanting an organ before birth could allow it to grow and develop with the fetus, so that the organ is functioning at birth and has less risk of rejection.
