Augmented tissue and organ transplants

Axes and innovations

• 1

  Fighting diabetes with pancreatic islets

  Islet transplantation restores insulin production in type 1 diabetes, but these grafts are often destroyed by stress and the immune system. WP3 will optimise their isolation and create “stealth” islets that resist these attacks. More innovatively: integrating these cells directly into a liver or kidney during machine perfusion (with WP2) to create “islet-augmented organs” before transplantation.

• 2

  Bio-artificial tracheas and tissues

  Building on French successes in tracheal reconstruction from aortic tissue (TRITON protocols), WP3 will develop the next generation of bio-engineered airways — microfabrication, biological matrices and growth factors for vascularisation. Other augmented tissues will be produced (blood vessels, 3D membranes for the retina…).

• 3

  Immunomodulation to prevent rejection

  To promote graft acceptance, the project will develop innovative cell therapies — notably the “Eight Treg” protocol: harvesting, purifying and expanding a patient’s regulatory immune cells, then re-administering them to temper the patient’s own immune response.

• 4

  Human-scale preclinical models

  To bridge the gap between rodents and human clinical reality, WP3 will test these augmented grafts on large preclinical models, with INRAE and veterinary schools. They better simulate complex human diseases and comorbidities, reducing the risk of failure, costs and time before human trials.

Expected impact

These advances will enable large-scale, cost-effective bioproduction, strengthening France’s leadership in biotherapies andregenerative medicine, while making these innovative transplants accessible to a broad public.