scholarly journals Do not keep it simple: recent advances in the generation of complex organoids

2020 ◽  
Vol 127 (11) ◽  
pp. 1569-1577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Wörsdörfer ◽  
Takashi I ◽  
Izumi Asahina ◽  
Yoshinori Sumita ◽  
Süleyman Ergün

Abstract 3D cell culture models which closely resemble real human tissues are of high interest for disease modelling, drug screening as well as a deeper understanding of human developmental biology. Such structures are termed organoids. Within the last years, several human organoid models were described. These are usually stem cell derived, arise by self-organization, mimic mechanisms of normal tissue development, show typical organ morphogenesis and recapitulate at least some organ specific functions. Many tissues have been reproduced in vitro such as gut, liver, lung, kidney and brain. The resulting entities can be either derived from an adult stem cell population, or generated from pluripotent stem cells using a specific differentiation protocol. However, many organoid models only recapitulate the organs parenchyma but are devoid of stromal components such as blood vessels, connective tissue and inflammatory cells. Recent studies show that the incorporation of endothelial and mesenchymal cells into organoids improved their maturation and might be required to create fully functional micro-tissues, which will allow deeper insights into human embryogenesis as well as disease development and progression. In this review article, we will summarize and discuss recent works trying to incorporate stromal components into organoids, with a special focus on neural organoid models.

Oncogenesis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Yan ◽  
Meiou Dai ◽  
Chenjing Zhang ◽  
Sophie Poulet ◽  
Alaa Moamer ◽  
...  

AbstractBasal-like triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) display poor prognosis, have a high risk of tumor recurrence, and exhibit high resistance to drug treatments. The TNBC aggressive features are largely due to the high proportion of cancer stem cells present within these tumors. In this study, we investigated the interplay and networking pathways occurring between TGFβ family ligands in regulating stemness in TNBCs. We found that TGFβ stimulation of TNBCs resulted in enhanced tumorsphere formation efficiency and an increased proportion of the highly tumorigenic CD44high/CD24low cancer stem cell population. Analysis of the TGFβ transcriptome in TNBC cells revealed bone morphogenetic protein4 (BMP4) as a main TGFβ-repressed target in these tumor cells. We further found that BMP4 opposed TGFβ effects on stemness and potently decreased cancer stem cell numbers, thereby acting as a differentiation factor in TNBC. At the molecular level, we found that TGFβ inhibition of BMP4 gene expression is mediated through the Smad pathway and cyclin D1. In addition, we also found BMP4 to act as a pro-differentiation factor in normal mammary epithelial cells and promote mammary acinar formation in 3D cell culture assays. Finally, and consistent with our in vitro results, in silico patient data analysis defined BMP4 as a potential valuable prognosis marker for TNBC patients.


Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 453
Author(s):  
Susana M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes ◽  
Marta S. Alexdottir ◽  
Gudrun Valdimarsdottir

Emerging data suggest that a trophoblast stem cell (TSC) population exists in the early human placenta. However, in vitro stem cell culture models are still in development and it remains under debate how well they reflect primary trophoblast (TB) cells. The absence of robust protocols to generate TSCs from humans has resulted in limited knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that regulate human placental development and TB lineage specification when compared to other human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). As placentation in mouse and human differ considerably, it is only with the development of human-based disease models using TSCs that we will be able to understand the various diseases caused by abnormal placentation in humans, such as preeclampsia. In this review, we summarize the knowledge on normal human placental development, the placental disease preeclampsia, and current stem cell model systems used to mimic TB differentiation. A special focus is given to the transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) family as it has been shown that the TGFβ family has an important role in human placental development and disease.


2018 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. e632-e640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miltiadis Fiorentzis ◽  
Periklis Katopodis ◽  
Helen Kalirai ◽  
Berthold Seitz ◽  
Arne Viestenz ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 1783-1787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Zuk

In 2002, researchers at UCLA published a manuscript in Molecular Biology of the Cell describing a novel adult stem cell population isolated from adipose tissue—the adipose-derived stem cell (ASC). Since that time, the ASC has gone on to be one of the most popular adult stem cell populations currently being used in the stem cell field. With multilineage mesodermal potential and possible ectodermal and endodermal potentials also, the ASC could conceivably be an alternate to pluripotent ES cells in both the lab and in the clinic. In this retrospective article, a historical perspective on the ASC is given together with exciting new applications for the stem cell being considered today.


2022 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yajun Wang ◽  
Lan Yao ◽  
Yao Teng ◽  
Hua Yin ◽  
Qiuling Wu

As an important member of the Argonaute protein family, PIWI-like protein 1 (PIWIL1) plays a key role in tumor cell viability. However, the exact function of PIWIL1 in multiple myeloma (MM) and the underlying mechanism remain unclear. Here, we revealed that PIWIL1 was highly expressed in myeloma cell lines and newly diagnosed MM patients, and that its expression was notably higher in refractory/relapsed MM patients. PIWIL1 promoted the proliferation of MM cells and conferred resistance to chemotherapeutic agents both in vitro and in vivo. More importantly, PIWIL1 enhanced the formation of autophagosomes, especially mitophagosomes, by disrupting mitochondrial calcium signaling and modulating mitophagy-related canonical PINK1/Parkin pathway protein components. Mitophagy/autophagy inhibitors overcome PIWIL1-induced chemoresistance. In addition, PIWIL1 overexpression increased the proportion of side population (SP) cells and upregulated the expression of the stem cell-associated genes Nanog, OCT4, and SOX2, while its inhibition resulted in opposite effects. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that PIWIL1 induced drug resistance by activating mitophagy and regulating the MM stem cell population. PIWIL1 depletion significantly overcame drug resistance and could be used as a novel therapeutic target for reversing resistance in MM patients.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Charles McGhee ◽  
◽  
Peter J Wilson ◽  
Jeremy J Mathan ◽  
Jennifer J McGhee ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1404-1419
Author(s):  
Roger Esteban-Vives ◽  
Jenny Ziembicki ◽  
Myung Sun Choi ◽  
R. L. Thompson ◽  
Eva Schmelzer ◽  
...  

Various cell-based therapies are in development to address chronic and acute skin wound healing, for example for burns and trauma patients. An off-the-shelf source of allogeneic dermal cells could be beneficial for innovative therapies accelerating the healing in extensive wounds where the availability of a patient’s own cells is limited. Human fetal-derived dermal fibroblasts (hFDFs) show high in vitro division rates, exhibit low immunological rejection properties, and present scarless wound healing in the fetus, and previous studies on human fetal tissue-derived cell therapies have shown promising results on tissue repair. However, little is known about cell lineage stability and cell differentiation during the cell expansion process, required for any potential therapeutic use. We describe an isolation method, characterize a population, and investigate its potential for cell banking and thus suitability as a potential product for cell grafting therapies. Our results show hFDFs and a bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BM-MSC) line shared identification markers and in vitro multilineage differentiation potential into osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic lineages. The hFDF population exhibited similar cell characteristics as BM-MSCs while producing lower pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 levels and higher levels of the wound healing factor hepatocyte growth factor. We demonstrate in vitro differentiation of hFDFs, which may be a problem in maintaining long-term lineage stability, potentially limiting their use for cell banking and therapy development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (7) ◽  
pp. 3603-3609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Zou ◽  
Renjun Tu ◽  
Bo Duan ◽  
Zhenlin Yang ◽  
Zhaohua Ping ◽  
...  

5-Methylcytosine (m5C) is a RNA modification that exists in tRNAs and rRNAs and was recently found in mRNAs. Although it has been suggested to regulate diverse biological functions, whether m5C RNA modification influences adult stem cell development remains undetermined. In this study, we show that Ypsilon schachtel (YPS), a homolog of human Y box binding protein 1 (YBX1), promotes germ line stem cell (GSC) maintenance, proliferation, and differentiation in the Drosophila ovary by preferentially binding to m5C-containing RNAs. YPS is genetically demonstrated to function intrinsically for GSC maintenance, proliferation, and progeny differentiation in the Drosophila ovary, and human YBX1 can functionally replace YPS to support normal GSC development. Highly conserved cold-shock domains (CSDs) of YPS and YBX1 preferentially bind to m5C RNA in vitro. Moreover, YPS also preferentially binds to m5C-containing RNAs, including mRNAs, in germ cells. The crystal structure of the YBX1 CSD-RNA complex reveals that both hydrophobic stacking and hydrogen bonds are critical for m5C binding. Overexpression of RNA-binding–defective YPS and YBX1 proteins disrupts GSC development. Taken together, our findings show that m5C RNA modification plays an important role in adult stem cell development.


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