Researchers at Binghamton University in New York have developed a device that imitates human kidney function in order to shed light on how the organ will interact with drugs — a process that typically carries a hefty price tag.

“Determining which proteins are involved in a disease, turning molecules into drugs with favorable properties, getting drugs into cells, predicting pharmacokinetics, and preventing unwanted interactions are all scientific/engineering challenges,” Gretchen Mahler, assistant professor at the university, told HCB News.

It’s a microfluidic device also known as an organ-on-a-chip that models the major resorptive segment of the kidney called the proximal tubule and capillaries around the end of the kidney called glomerulus. Models of the proximal tubule are nothing new but this is the first model to offer glomerular filtration, which is necessary for healthy cell function.

“This is exciting because these are two areas of the body that often experience toxicity from new drug exposure,” said Mahler.

Another unique feature of this device is that it uses human cells in a dynamic and more physiologic environment. That potentially makes it better at predicting the body’s response to drugs than animal studies, which often don’t translate to humans, or the most commonly used preclinical screening tools, static cell cultures.

Mahler and her team found that more complex and dynamic culturing conditions, like the one they used, are needed to accurately predict renal drug toxicity in humans. They tested physiological renal function and drug toxicity in traditional static culturing and the new model and found significant differences.

In the new model, the cells appeared and behaved like those you would find in the body. That allows for more sensitive responses to drugs than traditional static culturing.

“Organ-on-a-chip devices like the one developed in our research project could play large roles in the future of medicine and human health care, specifically in pharmaceutical development,” said Mahler.