Cultivation of intestinal mini-organs: a promise for regenerative medicine.

Researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University demonstrated the growth of human intestinal organoids (HIOs) in a suspension culture within bioreactor while controlling the organoid size and composition using specialized laboratory techniques (Takahashi et al. 2022). An organoid is a 3D tissue culture which are spherical in shape with function like the corresponding in-vivo tissue.

In this study, intestinal organoids were cultured, these organoids can be used for drugs screening, organ functions, personalized medicine, and cell transplantation among various other applications.

Researchers explored the cultivation of intestinal cells with ultra-low attachment polymer in cell culture plates so that the cells detach and are acclimatized to grow in suspension culture. The spheroids obtained from these cell culture plates were then transferred to bioreactor. The size of spheroids was controlled by the number of cells seeded into the cell culture plates. In bioreactor, these spheroids further grow into HIOs which were transplanted into mice where they grow and successfully developed into a complex tissue like the mature intestine.

The study demonstrates the potential of using bioreactors for culturing organoids in suspension culture. Bioreactors offers more control over the differentiation and maturation of tissue specific organoids. Different types of bioreactors as shown in Figure 1 have successfully been used for tissue specific organoids culture such as cardiac, neural, lung, intestinal, neuroendocrine, and liver organoids (Licata et al. 2023). This approach of culturing organoids would assist in making organoids technology accessible for transplantation, drug discovery and personalized medicine for variety of organs.

Figure 1: Types of bioreactors used in organoid culture A) Stirred tank bioreactor with different impeller designs for distinct mixing patterns suitable for cell culture B) Microfluidic based bioreactor with channels for media inlet and outlet C) Rotating bioreactors: Slow turning lateral vessel (STLV) D) Bioreactors with electrical stimulation (Image source: Licata et al. , 2023)

References:

Licata, J.P.; Schwab, K.H.; Har-el, Y.-e.; Gerstenhaber, J.A.; Lelkes, P.I. Bioreactor Technologies for Enhanced Organoid Culture. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 11427. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241411427

Takahashi, J.; Mizutani, T.; Sugihara, H. Y.; Nagata, S.; Kato, S.; Hiraguri, Y.; Takeoka, S.; Tsuchiya, M.; Kuno, R.; Kakinuma, S.; Watanabe, M.; and Okamoto, R. Suspension culture in a rotating bioreactor for efficient generation of human intestinal organoids. Cell reports methods. 2022, 2, 100337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crmeth.2022.100337