Artificial Kidney Capsule Packed with Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Laden Hydrogel for the Treatment of Rhabdomyolysis-Induced Acute Kidney Injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) has emerged as a major public health problemaffecting millions of people worldwide without specific and satisfactory therapies due tothe lack of an effective delivery approach. In the past few decades, hydrogels presentinfinite potential in localized drug delivery, while their poor adhesion to moist tissue andisotropic diffusion character always restrict the therapeutic efficiency and may lead tounwanted side effects. Herein, we proposed a novel therapeutic strategy for AKI via acustomizable artificial kidney capsule (AKC) together with a mesenchymal stem cell(MSC)-laden hydrogel. Specifically, an elastic capsule owning an inner chamber withthe same size and shape as the kidney is designed and fabricated through three-dimensional (3D) modeling and printing, serving as an outer wrap for kidney and cell-laden hydrogels. According to the in vitroexperiment, the excellent biocompatibility of gelatin-based hydrogel ensures viability and proliferation of MSCs. In vivo miceexperiments proved that this concept of AKC-assisted kidney drug delivery could efficiently reduce epithelial cell apoptosis andminimize the damage of the renal tubular structure for mice suffering AKI. Such a strategy not only provides a promising alternativein the treatment of AKI but also offers a feasible and versatile approach for the repair and recovery of other organs.