Organoids for Further Research
Organoids are tissues that resemble human’s “eye, gut,
liver, kidney pancreas, prostrate, lung, stomach, and breast”, produced by
scientists. Since they are of great
similarity in structure and function to human tissues, organoids are being
used to increase knowledge in diseases and drugs. They are small enough to live without any blood, but big enough
to study its development and physiology. Individual cell
cultures are different from organoids in that they are grown flat and within
just one specific cell. Organoids are more complex than that because they
require a mix of progenitors and cells to able to grow in a 3-D structure. They
cannot show the affects of a therapy on an organism. In the in vivo research,
one can see how certain things affect the immune system of the animal.
Matrigel
is a gelatinous substance that is kind of like the extracellular matrix. Matrigel
is critical for growing organoids so that they will grow in a 3-D structure
rather than flat. In particular they have been used to study the effectiveness of a drug
for cystic fibrosis. If successful, the drug will open the ion channels so
that water could flow inward. Scientist also use organoids to find the best
therapies for patients with cancer, by using drugs to test them on specific
tumors. They can convert organoids into cancer to resemble the tumors and then use them for studies to be able to develop therapies. This can lead to organogenesis in the future because
if a patient needs an organ, they can basically grow it for them and just
implant it. This would save the trouble of having to be put on a wait list for
a perfect match, and in addition to that there is less possibility that the body will reject it.
Transforming normal organoids into cancer
These neural stem
cells and neurons make a brain organoid
References:
Dekkers, Johanna F. “A Functional CFTR Assay Using Primary Cystic Fibrosis Intestinal Organoids.” Nature Medicine, 6 Oct. 2017, www.nature.com/nm/journal/v19/n7/full/nm.3201.html.
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