Organ transplantation is a life-saving therapy, but the need for a compatible match between donor and recipient often leads to long waiting times. In Canada, over 4500 patients, including 750 in British Columbia (BC), are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant at any given time. Blood type is the primary determinant of organ matching, and Type O organs are universal donors. BC biotech start-up, Avivo Biomedical Inc., recently discovered enzymes that can convert Type A blood and organs to Type O, opening the possibility of increasing the supply of Type O (‘universal’) kidneys and improving the equity of donor allocation to patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).

A challenge with this solution is the potential for antigen re-expression by the donor cells post-transplantation. This could lead to organ rejection by the recipient and graft loss. To avoid this, the timing of the antigen re-expression needs to be understood. No readily available animal or cell culture models exist to measure the antigen re-expression in kidneys. To address this challenge, this project will collaborate with Dr. Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu at the University of British Columbia to develop in vitro models for pre-clinical testing. To prevent the antigen re-expression long-term, the team will ‘silence’ genes responsible for the donor antigen re-expression. If this technology is successful, organ transplants could be performed with minimal use of drugs to control rejection, it will also increase the chance of bringing Avivo’s technology to market that will potentially substantially increase the number of kidney transplants that can be performed and improve the equity of donor kidney allocation.