Next-Gen 'Organoid' Technology Could Advance Transplants
Bioengineers at EPFL have created miniature intestines in a dish that correspond anatomically and functionally to the real counterpart better than any other lab-grown tissue models. The biological complexity and longevity of the new organoid technology is an important step towards enabling drug testing, personalized medicine, and maybe even transplantations one day. The EPFL researchers have found a way to guide stem cells to form the intestinal organoid. They introduce a method that exploits the ability of stem cells to grow and organize themselves along a tube-shaped scaffold that mimics the surface of the native tissue, placed inside a microfluidic chip. The researchers used a laser to sculpt this intestinal-shaped scaffold within a hydrogel. Along with being the substrate on which the stem cells could grow, the hydrogel also provides the form that would build the final intestinal tissue.
Transcript
00:00:00 [Music] in a bioengineering breakthrough researchers at epfl have grown miniature intestines that look and behave just like real tissues the small intestine is a hollow tube-shaped organ in our digestive system the large inner surface of the intestine is lined by tissue called epithelium
00:00:20 composed of tiny bumps and cavities named villi and crypts the epithelium is made of various cell types found in specific locations in particular the bottom of the crypts contains stem cells which are responsible for the continuous regeneration of the epithelium skillfully combining microfabrication
00:00:41 bioengineering and stem cell culture the epfl researchers have succeeded for the first time in developing miniature intestines that match the real organ both anatomically and functionally better than any other lab-grown tissue model the microfluidic chip is engineered to incorporate a gut shaped micro channel within the 3d
00:01:01 hydrogel to create the right environment for the cells once seeded into the channel stem cells spread across the scaffold forming a continuous intestinal epithelium fluorescence microscopy shows an openly accessible lumen and the characteristic arrangement of
00:01:19 crypts and villus-like domains [Music] key intestinal cell types in the mini guts are spatially organized strikingly similar to the real intestine with stem cells and panther cells residing in the crypts while enterocytes and other specialized cell types are located in the lumen intestinal epithelium is the fastest
00:01:40 renewing tissue in the human body resulting in continuous accumulation of shed cells in the lumen the microfluidic profusion system allows the efficient removal of dying cells and can expose these tissues to microbiota parasites or viruses that can colonize the intestine mini guts can grow stably for several weeks to months
00:02:02 preserving the overall tissue anatomy and function these miniature intestines for the first time establish a long-lived organoid system recapitulating the homeostasis of the in-vivo intestinal epithelium the 3d biological matrix environment allows researchers to recreate organ level multicellular complexity to
00:02:24 study interactions between different cell types the integration of immune cells the vascular system and other important cell types opens broad avenues for new applications in disease modeling drug discovery and personalized medicine