Current therapy for chronic kidney disease (CKD) is limited; however, recent studies have shown that a subpopulation of cells derived from the bone marrow, known as early outgrowth cells (EOCs), are able to attenuate kidney injury. Here we examined the efficacy of a modular tissue engineering system whereby the EOCs might be easily removed in the event of malignant change. While modular therapy mimicked the effects seen with standard EOC therapy, the modules degraded allowing the encapsulated EOCs to enter systemic circulation. Given the presumed egress of EOCs, we explored an alternative strategy for kidney protection. Here we investigated the long-term effectiveness of administering the conditioned medium (EOC-CM) that contains the factors the EOCs secrete, rather than the cells themselves. In these studies, repeated administration of EOC-CM attenuated the structural and functional manifestations of kidney injury suggesting that this approach may provide an effective and feasible, cell-free approach for CKD.

Current therapy for chronic kidney disease (CKD) is limited; however, recent studies have shown that a subpopulation of cells derived from the bone marrow, known as early outgrowth cells (EOCs), are able to attenuate kidney injury. Here we examined the efficacy of a modular tissue engineering system whereby the EOCs might be easily removed in the event of malignant change. While modular therapy mimicked the effects seen with standard EOC therapy, the modules degraded allowing the encapsulated EOCs to enter systemic circulation. Given the presumed egress of EOCs, we explored an alternative strategy for kidney protection. Here we investigated the long-term effectiveness of administering the conditioned medium (EOC-CM) that contains the factors the EOCs secrete, rather than the cells themselves. In these studies, repeated administration of EOC-CM attenuated the structural and functional manifestations of kidney injury suggesting that this approach may provide an effective and feasible, cell-free approach for CKD.