Modeling mouse and human development using organoid cultures

In vitro three-dimensional (3D) cultures are emerging as novel systems with which to study tissue development, organogenesis and stem cell behavior ex vivo. When grown in a 3D environment, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) self-organize into organoids and acquire the right tissue patterning to develop into several endoderm- and ectoderm-derived tissues, mimicking their in vivo counterparts. Tissue-resident adult stem cells (AdSCs) also form organoids when grown in 3D and can be propagated in vitro for long periods of time. In this Review, we discuss recent advances in the generation of pluripotent stem cell- and AdSC-derived organoids, highlighting their potential for enhancing our understanding of human development. We will also explore how this new culture system allows disease modeling and gene repair for a personalized regenerative medicine approach.

Applications of patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells; focused on disease modeling, drug screening and therapeutic potentials for liver disease

The recent advances in the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) research have significantly changed our perspectives on regenerative medicine by providing researchers with a unique tool to derive disease-specific stem cells for study. In this review, we describe the human iPSC generation from developmentally diverse origins (i.e. endoderm-, mesoderm-, and ectoderm- tissue derived human iPSCs) and multistage hepatic differentiation protocols, and discuss both basic and clinical applications of these cells including disease modeling, drug toxicity screening/drug discovery, gene therapy and cell replacement therapy.

Lymphatic Tissue Engineering and Regeneration

The lymphatic system is a major circulatory system within the body, responsible for the transport of interstitial fluid, waste products, immune cells, and proteins. Compared to other physiological systems, the molecular mechanisms and underlying disease pathology largely remain to be understood which has hindered advancements in therapeutic options for lymphatic disorders. Dysfunction of the lymphatic system is associated with a wide range of disease phenotypes and has also been speculated as a route to rescue healthy phenotypes in areas including cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and neurological conditions. This review will discuss lymphatic system functions and structure, cell sources for regenerating lymphatic vessels, current approaches for engineering lymphatic vessels, and specific therapeutic areas that would benefit from advances in lymphatic tissue engineering and regeneration.

Genetic engineering in organoids

Three-dimensional organoids have been widely used for developmental and disease modeling. Organoids are derived from both adult and pluripotent stem cells. Various types are available for mimicking almost all major organs and tissues in the mouse and human. While culture protocols for stepwise differentiation and long-term expansion are well established, methods for genetic manipulation in organoids still need further standardization. In this review, we summarized different methods for organoid genetics and provide the pros and cons of each method for designing an optimal strategy.

From engineered heart tissue to cardiac organoid

The advent of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) presented a new paradigm to employ hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) in drug screening and disease modeling. However, hPSC-CMs differentiated in conventional two-dimensional systems are structurally and functionally immature. Moreover, these differentiation systems generate predominantly one type of cell. Since the heart includes not only CMs but other cell types, such monolayer cultures have limitations in simulating the native heart. Accordingly, three-dimensional (3D) cardiac tissues have been developed as a better platform by including various cardiac cell types and extracellular matrices. Two advances were made for 3D cardiac tissue generation. One type is engineered heart tissues (EHTs), which are constructed by 3D cell culture of cardiac cells using an engineering technology. This system provides a convenient real-time analysis of cardiac function, as well as a precise control of the input/output flow and mechanical/electrical stimulation. The other type is cardiac organoids, which are formed through self-organization of differentiating cardiac lineage cells from hPSCs. While mature cardiac organoids are more desirable, at present only primitive forms of organoids are available. In this review, we discuss various models of hEHTs and cardiac organoids emulating the human heart, focusing on their unique features, utility, and limitations.

Dynamic Formation of Microvillus Inclusions During Enterocyte Differentiation in Munc18-2-Deficient Intestinal Organoids

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Microvillus inclusion disease (MVID) is a congenital intestinal malabsorption disorder caused by defective apical vesicular transport. Existing cellular models do not fully recapitulate this heterogeneous pathology. The aim of this study was to characterize 3-dimensional intestinal organoids that continuously generate polarized absorptive cells as an accessible and relevant model to investigate MVID.

METHODS

Intestinal organoids from Munc18-2/Stxbp2-null mice that are deficient for apical vesicular transport were subjected to enterocyte-specific differentiation protocols. Lentiviral rescue experiments were performed using human MUNC18-2 variants. Apical trafficking and microvillus formation were characterized by confocal and transmission electron microscopy. Spinning disc time-lapse microscopy was used to document the lifecycle of microvillus inclusions.

RESULTS

Loss of Munc18-2/Stxbp2 recapitulated the pathologic features observed in patients with MUNC18-2 deficiency. The defects were fully restored by transgenic wild-type human MUNC18-2 protein, but not the patient variant (P477L). Importantly, we discovered that the MVID phenotype was correlated with the degree of enterocyte differentiation: secretory vesicles accumulated already in crypt progenitors, while differentiated enterocytes showed an apical tubulovesicular network and enlarged lysosomes. Upon prolonged enterocyte differentiation, cytoplasmic F-actin-positive foci were observed that further progressed into classic microvillus inclusions. Time-lapse microscopy showed their dynamic formation by intracellular maturation or invagination of the apical or basolateral plasma membrane.

CONCLUSIONS

We show that prolonged enterocyte-specific differentiation is required to recapitulate the entire spectrum of MVID. Primary organoids can provide a powerful model for this heterogeneous pathology. Formation of microvillus inclusions from multiple membrane sources showed an unexpected dynamic of the enterocyte brush border.

Disease spreading modeling and analysis: a survey

MOTIVATION

The control of the diffusion of diseases is a critical subject of a broad research area, which involves both clinical and political aspects. It makes wide use of computational tools, such as ordinary differential equations, stochastic simulation frameworks and graph theory, and interaction data, from molecular to social granularity levels, to model the ways diseases arise and spread. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a perfect testbench example to show how these models may help avoid severe lockdown by suggesting, for instance, the best strategies of vaccine prioritization.

RESULTS

Here, we focus on and discuss some graph-based epidemiological models and show how their use may significantly improve the disease spreading control. We offer some examples related to the recent COVID-19 pandemic and discuss how to generalize them to other diseases.

Analysis of population immunity to poliovirus following cessation of trivalent oral polio vaccine

BACKGROUND

The global withdrawal of trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) (tOPV, containing Sabin poliovirus strains serotypes 1, 2 and 3) from routine immunization, and the introduction of bivalent OPV (bOPV, containing Sabin poliovirus strains serotypes 1 and 3) and trivalent inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) into routine immunization was expected to improve population serologic and mucosal immunity to types 1 and 3 poliovirus, while population mucosal immunity to type 2 poliovirus would decline. However, over the period since tOPV withdrawal, the implementation of preventive bOPV supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) has decreased, while outbreaks of type 2 circulating vaccine derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) have required targeted use of monovalent type 2 OPV (mOPV2).

METHODS

We develop a dynamic model of OPV-induced immunity to estimate serotype-specific, district-level immunity for countries in priority regions and characterize changes in immunity since 2016. We account for the changes in routine immunization schedules and varying implementation of preventive and outbreak response SIAs, assuming homogenous coverages of 50% and 80% for SIAs.

RESULTS

In areas with strong routine immunization, the switch from tOPV to bOPV has likely resulted in gains in population immunity to types 1 and 3 poliovirus. However, we estimate that improved immunogenicity of new schedules has not compensated for declines in preventive SIAs in areas with weak routine immunization. For type 2 poliovirus, without tOPV in routine immunization or SIAs, mucosal immunity has declined nearly everywhere, while use of mOPV2 has created highly heterogeneous population immunity for which it is important to take into account when responding to cVDPV2 outbreaks.

CONCLUSIONS

The withdrawal of tOPV and declining allocations of resources for preventive bOPV SIAs have resulted in reduced immunity in vulnerable areas to types 1 and 3 poliovirus and generally reduced immunity to type 2 poliovirus in the regions studied, assuming homogeneous coverages of 50% and 80% for SIAs. The very low mucosal immunity to type 2 poliovirus generates substantially greater risk for further spread of cVDPV2 outbreaks. Emerging gaps in immunity to all serotypes will require judicious targeting of limited resources to the most vulnerable populations by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

Unleashing the Power of Induced Pluripotent stem Cells in in vitro Modelling of Lesch-Nyhan Disease

Lesch-Nyhan disease (LND) is a monogenic rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a deficiency in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT), the key enzyme of the purines salvage pathway. Beyond its well-documented metabolic consequences, HPRT deficiency leads to a distinctive neurobehavioral syndrome characterized by motor disabilities, cognitive deficits, and self-injurious behavior. Although various cell and animal models have been developed to investigate LND pathology, none have adequately elucidated the underlying mechanisms of its neurological alterations. Recent advances in human pluripotent stem cell research and in vitro differentiation techniques have ushered in a new era in rare neurodevelopmental disorders research. Pluripotent stem cells, with their ability to propagate indefinitely and to differentiate into virtually any cell type, offer a valuable alternative for modeling rare diseases, allowing for the detection of pathological events from the earliest stages of neuronal network development. Furthermore, the generation of patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells using reprogramming technology provides an opportunity to develop a disease-relevant model within the context of a patient-specific genome. In this review, we examine current stem cell-based models of LND and assess their potential as optimal models for exploring key pathological molecular events during neurogenesis and for the discovering novel treatment options. We also address the limitations, challenges, and future prospects for improving the use of iPSCs in LND research.