Precision-engineered biomimetics: the human fallopian tube

Kavli Affiliate: Denis Wirtz

| Authors: Ashleigh J Crawford, André Forjaz, Isha Bhorkar, Triya Roy, David Schell, Vasco Queiroga, Kehan Ren, Donald Kramer, Joanna Bons, Wilson Huang, Gabriella C Russo, Meng-Horng Lee, Birgit Schilling, Pei-Hsun Wu, Ie-Ming Shih, Tian-Li Wang, Ashley Kiemen and Denis Wirtz

| Summary:

The fallopian tube has an essential role in several physiological and pathological processes from pregnancy to ovarian cancer. However, there are no biologically relevant models to study its pathophysiology. The state-of-the-art organoid model has been compared to two-dimensional tissue sections and molecularly assessed providing only cursory analyses of the model’s accuracy. We developed a novel multi-compartment organoid model of the human fallopian tube that was meticulously tuned to reflect the compartmentalization and heterogeneity of the tissue’s composition. We validated this organoid’s molecular expression patterns, cilia-driven transport function, and structural accuracy through a highly iterative platform wherein organoids are compared to a three-dimensional, single-cell resolution reference map of a healthy, transplantation-quality human fallopian tube. This organoid model was precision-engineered to match the human microanatomy.

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