Functional recovery of vitrified and nanowarmed human-scale pig kidneys
- 1University of Minnesota
Abstract
Organ transplantation is critically constrained by the short preservation window for donor organs, limiting allocation and contributing to organ discard and waitlist mortality. Cryogenic organ banking could extend preservation from hours to months or years, but ice formation, thermal stress and cryoprotectant toxicity become increasingly difficult to control as organ size increases. Vitrification and nanowarming have enabled long-term preservation and transplantation of rodent kidneys but have not been demonstrated at the scale of clinically relevant organs. Here we show that vitrification and electromagnetic nanowarming enable long-term cryogenic storage and functional recovery of human-scale porcine kidneys. Kidneys 100-fold larger than previously nanowarmed kidneys were successfully recovered after storage at -150 {degrees}C for up to one year. A new cryoprotectant formulation and multithermic perfusion strategy enabled ice-free vitrification at cooling rates achievable in large kidneys, while controlled cooling with annealing and staged volumetric nanowarming limited thermal stress and enabled rapid rewarming without cracking. Rewarmed kidneys demonstrated vascular, metabolic and excretory function during normothermic perfusion, with limited histological injury, and reperfused homogeneously and produced urine immediately after transplantation. Functional recovery approached static cold storage outcomes across several measures and was similar to that of kidneys exposed to cryoprotectant alone, suggesting minimal additional functional injury from vitrification, cryogenic storage and nanowarming. These findings overcome major scale and storage-duration barriers to organ cryopreservation and establish a path toward organ banking on timescales far beyond those of conventional preservation.
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BibTeX
@misc{han2026functional,
title = {{Functional recovery of vitrified and nanowarmed human-scale pig kidneys}},
author = {Z. Han and B.-E. Namsrai and A. Chimedtseren and A. A. D. Chen and B. J. Fisher and D. Tobolt and M. G. Megaly and O. J. Oziri and M. Jiang and J. S. Rao and A. B. Adams and M. L. Etheridge and J. C. Bischof and E. B. Finger},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.07.756990},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.756990v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Functional recovery of vitrified and nanowarmed human-scale pig kidneys
AU - Z. Han
AU - B.-E. Namsrai
AU - A. Chimedtseren
AU - A. A. D. Chen
AU - B. J. Fisher
AU - D. Tobolt
AU - M. G. Megaly
AU - O. J. Oziri
AU - M. Jiang
AU - J. S. Rao
AU - A. B. Adams
AU - M. L. Etheridge
AU - J. C. Bischof
AU - E. B. Finger
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.07.756990
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.756990v1
AB - Organ transplantation is critically constrained by the short preservation window for donor organs, limiting allocation and contributing to organ discard and waitlist mortality. Cryogenic organ banking could extend preservation from hours to months or years, but ice formation, thermal stress and cryoprotectant toxicity become increasingly difficult to control as organ size increases. Vitrification and nanowarming have enabled long-term preservation and transplantation of rodent kidneys but have not been demonstrated at the scale of clinically relevant organs. Here we show that vitrification and electromagnetic nanowarming enable long-term cryogenic storage and functional recovery of human-scale porcine kidneys. Kidneys 100-fold larger than previously nanowarmed kidneys were successfully recovered after storage at -150 {degrees}C for up to one year. A new cryoprotectant formulation and multithermic perfusion strategy enabled ice-free vitrification at cooling rates achievable in large kidneys, while controlled cooling with annealing and staged volumetric nanowarming limited thermal stress and enabled rapid rewarming without cracking. Rewarmed kidneys demonstrated vascular, metabolic and excretory function during normothermic perfusion, with limited histological injury, and reperfused homogeneously and produced urine immediately after transplantation. Functional recovery approached static cold storage outcomes across several measures and was similar to that of kidneys exposed to cryoprotectant alone, suggesting minimal additional functional injury from vitrification, cryogenic storage and nanowarming. These findings overcome major scale and storage-duration barriers to organ cryopreservation and establish a path toward organ banking on timescales far beyond those of conventional preservation.
ER -