Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Mar 15;144(6):958-962.
doi: 10.1242/dev.140731.

Pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids: using principles of developmental biology to grow human tissues in a dish

Heather A McCauley  1 , James M Wells  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids: using principles of developmental biology to grow human tissues in a dish

Heather A McCauley et al. Development. .

Abstract

Pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived organoids are miniature, three-dimensional human tissues generated by the application of developmental biological principles to PSCs in vitro The approach to generate organoids uses a combination of directed differentiation, morphogenetic processes, and the intrinsically driven self-assembly of cells that mimics organogenesis in the developing embryo. The resulting organoids have remarkable cell type complexity, architecture and function similar to their in vivo counterparts. In the past five years, human PSC-derived organoids with components of all three germ layers have been generated, resulting in the establishment of a new human model system. Here, and in the accompanying poster, we provide an overview of how principles of developmental biology have been essential for generating human organoids in vitro, and how organoids are now being used as a primary research tool to investigate human developmental biology.

Keywords: Directed differentiation; Human development; Morphogenesis; Organoids; Patterning; Pluripotent stem cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

References

    1. Arnold S. J. and Robertson E. J. (2009). Making a commitment: cell lineage allocation and axis patterning in the early mouse embryo. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 10, 91-103. 10.1038/nrm2618 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aven L. and Ai X. (2013). Mechanisms of respiratory innervation during embryonic development. Organogenesis 9, 194-198. 10.4161/org.24842 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bertaux-Skeirik N., Feng R., Schumacher M. A., Li J., Mahe M. M., Engevik A. C., Javier J. E., Peek R. M. Jr, Ottemann K., Orian-Rousseau V. et al. (2015). CD44 plays a functional role in Helicobacter pylori-induced epithelial cell proliferation. PLoS Pathog. 11, e1004663 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004663 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chambers S. M., Fasano C. A., Papapetrou E. P., Tomishima M., Sadelain M. and Studer L. (2009). Highly efficient neural conversion of human ES and iPS cells by dual inhibition of SMAD signaling. Nat. Biotechnol. 27, 275-280. 10.1038/nbt.1529 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Choi K.-D., Vodyanik M. A. and Slukvin I. I. (2009a). Generation of mature human myelomonocytic cells through expansion and differentiation of pluripotent stem cell-derived lin-CD34+CD43+CD45+ progenitors. J. Clin. Invest. 119, 2818-2829. 10.1172/JCI38591 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types