Self-organized intestinal epithelial monolayers in crypt and villus-like domains show effective barrier function.

ABSTRACT: Intestinal organoids have emerged as a powerful in vitro tool for studying intestinal biology due to their resemblance to in vivo tissue at the structural and functional levels. However, their sphere-like geometry prevents access to the apical side of the epithelium, making them unsuitable for standard functional assays designed for flat cell monolayers. Here, we describe a simple method for the formation of epithelial monolayers that recapitulates the in vivo-like cell type composition and organization and that is suitable for functional tissue barrier assays. In our approach, epithelial monolayer spreading is driven by the substrate stiffness, while tissue barrier function is achieved by the basolateral delivery of medium enriched with stem cell niche and myofibroblast-derived factors. T

SUBMITTER: Altay G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6625996 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature