Advancing Intestinal Organoid Technology Toward Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

With the emergence of technologies to culture intestinal epithelial cells in vitro as various forms of intestinal organoids, there is growing interest in using such cultured intestinal cells as a source for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. One such approach would be to combine the organoid technology with methodologies to engineer the culture environment, particularly the three-dimensional scaffold materials, to generate intestines that exquisitely recapitulate their original structures and functions. Another approach to use organoids for regenerative medicine would be to urge them to mature into functional intestines by implanting them into hosts. This process includes the tissue-engineered small intestine that uses synthetic scaffolds for tissue regeneration and direct organoid transplantation that takes advantage of submucosal tissues in the native intestines as a scaffold. Further study in these subfields could lead to the development of therapeutic options to use different types of organoids with various cell types in regenerative medicine for intestinal diseases in humans.

Keywords: 2D, two-dimensional; 3D, three-dimensional; ECM, extracellular matrix; HIO, human intestinal organoid; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; IEC, intestinal epithelial cell; ISC, intestinal stem cell; Intestinal Organoid; Intestinal Stem Cells; Regenerative Medicine; SBS, short bowel syndrome; TESI, tissue-engineered small intestine; Tissue Engineering; Transplantation.

Figure 1

Schematic illustration of intestinal tissue engineering and regenerative medicine based on organoid technology. Combining organoid technology with methodologies to engineer 3D scaffold materials may allow for generation of mature, transplantable intestines that finely recapitulate their original structures and functions. To urge intestinal organoids to mature into functional intestines by implanting them into hosts would be another strategy for regenerative medicine. This process includes TESI that utilizes synthetic scaffolds for tissue regeneration and direct organoid transplantation that takes advantage of submucosal tissues in the native intestines as a scaffold. Future research progress will offer a variety of options to utilize different types of organoids with various cell types for regenerative medicine for intestinal diseases in humans.