Researchers Use Human Intestine, Liver Stem-cell Cultures to Explore Bile Signaling

Article title: Use of human tissue stem cell-derived organoid cultures to model enterohepatic circulation

Authors: Sarah Elizabeth Blutt, Sue Crawford, Carolyn Bomidi, Xi-Lei Zeng, James Broughman, Matthew Robertson, Cristian Coarfa, Mary Elizabeth Tessier, Tor C. Savidge, F. Blaine Hollinger, Steven Curley, Mark Donowitz, Mary K. Estes

From the authors: “Here we demonstrate that physical coupling of ex vivo human intestine and liver epithelial organoid cultures recapitulates in vivo interorgan bile acid signaling. These results suggest that coupling of multiple organoid systems provides new models to investigate interorgan communication and advances our knowledge of human physiologic and pathophysiological processes.”

This study is highlighted as one of September’s “best of the best” as part of the American Physiological Society’s APSselect program.