Intestinal epithelial spheroids: new tools for studying gastrointestinal diseases

摘要: The intestinal tract is one of the most complex organs our body because it has to perform several functions, including digestion and absorption nutrients. Being exposed a continuous insult by local microbiota, epithelium constantly renewed from Lgr5+ stem cell progenitors located in crypts Lieberkuhn.1 These have been recently exploited regenerate ‘mini-guts’ (organoids) vitro.2 An appropriate cocktail small molecules growth factors identified that preserves stemness but also favours differentiation enterocytes Paneth cells thus forming organotypic structure crypt-villous organoid (for review, see ref. 3). In this issue Gut , VanDussen et al 4 show powerful method growing human epithelial culture biopsies segments either healthy individuals or patients with pathologies. The authors established very simple methodology starting collected during routine endoscopy. Crypts were isolated collagenase embedded matrigel 50% conditioned medium obtained fibroblasts engineered secrete Wnt3a, R-spondin Noggin.5 three previously shown same among others be sufficient propagate maintain mouse system.3 In current manuscript, …