Stem cells for organoids
Shutong Qian, Jiayi Mao, Zhimo Liu, Binfan Zhao, Qiuyu Zhao, Bolun Lu, Liucheng Zhang, Xiyuan Mao, Liying Cheng, Wenguo Cui, Yuguang Zhang, Xiaoming Sun
Abstract
Organoids are three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems that simulate the structures and functions of organs, involving applications in disease modeling, drug screening, and cellular developmental biology. The material matrix in organoids can provide a 3D environment for stem cells to differentiate into different cell types and continuously self-renew, thereby realizing the in vitro culture of organs, which has received extensive attention in recent years. However, some challenges still exist in organoids, including low maturity, high heterogeneity, and lack of spatiotemporal regulation. Therefore, in this review, we summarized the culturing protocols and various applications of stem cell-derived organoids and proposed insightful thoughts for engineering stem cells into organoids in view of the current shortcomings, to achieve the further application and clinical translation of stem cells and engineered stem cells in organoid research.