Scientists at Egenesis Inc. have transplanted kidneys from genome-edited pigs into cynomolgus monkeys that remained functional for long periods after transplantation. The monkeys, whose own kidneys were removed during the surgery, survived for a median of 176 days after receiving one pig kidney. Maximal survival was just over 2 years. The data were published today in Nature. Egenesis CEO Mike Curtis told reporters that the study has achieved the longest survival to date “using clinically translatable immunosuppression … longer survival has been achieved using really aggressive immunosuppression that really isn’t clinically translatable.”

Scientists at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health have developed a humanized kidney at the mesonephros stage in pig embryos up to day 28 of gestation. It is the first time that this has been achieved in chimeric xenotransplants.

Glycyrrhizic acid (GL) and its glycocan display anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antioxidant properties. Highly conserved nuclear protein (HMGB1) is a pro-inflammatory mediator that can be inhibited by GL, but the large size of the latter creates the need to obtain GL analogues with enhanced activity and stability.

The contribution of the soluble form of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) as a risk factor for chronic kidney diseases (CKD) is well known. Researchers from Rush University Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and collaborators have now identified D2D3, a suPAR fragment, as responsible for causing double injury, both to the kidney and pancreas, thus resulting in glomerular disease and insulin-dependent diabetes.

Mironid Ltd. has announced an extension of its series A financing round to support its development of small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The company will use the proceeds of the financing to advance its lead discovery program through IND-enabling studies.

Scientists behind Purespring Therapeutics Ltd. have made progress in overcoming the problems of accessibility, complexity of structure and diversity of cell types that have held back the use of gene therapy in the kidneys, reporting success in treating nephrotic syndrome in a mouse model of the inherited form of the renal disease.

Gri Bio Inc. reported data on its type 2 natural killer T (NKT) cell activator GRI-0803 at the Autoimmunity Conference hosted by FASEB earlier in August. The company is developing GRI-0803 in autoimmune diseases, with an initial focus of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).