Reproduced on chip a miniature intestine that develops and functions like the real one: it was created thanks to a new bioengineering technique that allows to 'guide' the stem cells so that they form an organoid that is as similar to the natural organ.
The result is published in Nature by researchers from the Federal Polytechnic of Lausanne and will allow the generation of increasingly realistic laboratory models with which to study diseases and test new treatments.
Researchers led by Matthias Lutolf used the laser to 'sculpt' a tubular scaffold (similar to the shape of the small intestine) made of hydrogel, a gelatinous intertwining of matrix proteins that surrounds and supports intestinal cells.
On this substrate they then 'sowed' the stem cells, which within a few hours organized themselves to form a continuous layer of cells with the classic villi and crypts structure that characterizes the intestinal epithelium.
"It is as if the geometry of the hydrogel scaffold, with its crypt-shaped cavities, directly influences the behavior of the stem cells, so that they are conserved in the cavities and differentiate in the external areas, just like in the native tissue", Lutolf explains.
Cells not only adopt the scaffold shape, but also understand how to differentiate into different cell types depending on their location, even producing rare types that are not normally seen in organoids.
The mini-intestine is grown on a chip (called 'microfluidic') which guarantees a controlled circulation of fluids through microscopic channels: this allows to remove dead intestinal cells and prevent them from accumulating.
The system has already been shown to regenerate in the event of damage, just like the real intestinal epithelium;
it can also be used to study inflammatory diseases and the relationship with the bacterial flora.
