Establishment of human intestinal organoids derived from commercially available cryopreserved intestinal epithelium and evaluation for pharmacokinetic study

The probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum alleviates colitis by modulating gut microflora to activate PPARγ and inhibit MAPKs/NF-κB

PURPOSE

In order to address the global public health concern of colitis, this study was conducted to investigate the beneficial effect of Lactobacillus plantarum LR002 (LR) on the remission of ulcerative colitis (UC) in mice and to explore the possible underlying mechanisms.

METHODS

The effect of LR on UC was analyzed by using dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced UC model in mice (n = 9). To assess the therapeutic effect of LR on UC in mice, the disease activity index (DAI) of mice, histopathological alterations, intestinal epithelial barrier integrity, and intestinal microflora were determined.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated a reduction in the DSS-induced DAI in UC mice. Additionally, it mitigated colon shortening, minimized intestinal tissue damage, and preserved intestinal tight junction proteins (Claudin-3, Occludin, and ZO-1). LR reduced the levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) and oxidative mediators (MPO, SOD and MDA) in the colon of UC mice, which could also alleviate the imbalance of intestinal flora in UC mice, increase the abundance of Prevotellaceae, and Ligilactobacillus, and decrease the abundance of Bacteroidaceae and Eubacteriumrum. LR can also increase the levels of PPARγ in the nucleus and inhibit the MAPK/NF-ĸB signaling pathway in UC mice. Besides, the reduction of the content of short-chain fatty acid (SCFAs) in the colon of UC mice was relieved.

CONCLUSION

The above results forge a scientific basis for LR as natural anti-inflammatory food to improve the imbalance of inflammatory intestinal flora and promote intestinal health.

Development of an Evaluation System Using Intestinal Organoids for Drug Efflux Transport Analysis by an Imaging Approach

There are several in vitro systems that enable evaluation of the absorption direction, but there are few quantitative systems that enable easy evaluation of the excretion direction. Enteroids, organoids derived from intestine, have been frozen and passaged for various research. But it is not clear how the freezing and passaging affect the expression and function of transporters. We investigated the effects of passage and cryopreservation of enteroids. We focused on P-gp (P-glycoprotein) and compared the transfer rates of rhodamine 123 (Rh123) into the lumen of enteroids with and without a P-gp inhibitor. mRNA expression levels did not change significantly before and after passage and cryopreservation. Accumulation of Rh123 in the lumen of enteroids was observed. With some P-gp inhibitors, excretion of Rh123 into the lumen of enteroids was inhibited and the nonexcreted Rh123 accumulated in enteroids epithelial cells. The transfer rate of Rh123 into the lumen of enteroids with a P-gp inhibitor was significantly decreased compared to that of without a P-gp inhibitor. Before and after passage and cryopreservation, the transfer rate was almost the same as that of primary cultured enteroids. We succeeded in easily evaluating whether a component is a substrate of P-gp using enteroids.

Functional intestinal monolayers from organoids derived from human iPS cells for drug discovery research

BACKGROUND

Human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived enterocyte-like cells (ELCs) are expected to be useful for evaluating the intestinal absorption and metabolism of orally administered drugs. However, it is difficult to generate large amounts of ELCs with high quality because they cannot proliferate and be passaged.

METHODS

To solve the issue above, we have established intestinal organoids from ELCs generated using our protocol. Furthermore, monolayers were produced from the organoids. We evaluated the usefulness of the monolayers by comparing their functions with those of the original ELCs and the organoids.

RESULTS

We established organoids from ELCs (ELC-org) that could be passaged and maintained for more than a year. When ELC-org were dissociated into single cells and seeded on cell culture inserts (ELC-org-mono), they formed a tight monolayer in 3 days. Both ELC-org and ELC-org-mono were composed exclusively of epithelial cells. Gene expressions of many drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters in ELC-org-mono were enhanced, as compared with those in ELC-org, to a level comparable to those in adult human small intestine. The CYP3A4 activity level in ELC-org-mono was comparable or higher than that in primary cryopreserved human small intestinal cells. ELC-org-mono had the efflux activities of P-gp and BCRP. Importantly, ELC-org-mono maintained high intestinal functions without any negative effects even after long-term culture (for more than a year) or cryopreservation. RNA-seq analysis showed that ELC-org-mono were more mature as intestinal epithelial cells than ELCs or ELC-org.

CONCLUSIONS

We have successfully improved the function and convenience of ELCs by utilizing organoid technology.