Human duodenal organoid‐derived monolayers serve as a suitable barrier model for duodenal tissue. Issue 1 (6th June 2022) - Weiß, Franziska
Abstract: Usually, duodenal barriers are investigated using intestinal cell lines like Caco‐2, which in contrast to native tissue are limited in cell‐type representation. Organoids can consist of all intestinal cell types and are supposed to better reflect the in vivo situation. Growing three‐dimensionally, with the apical side facing the lumen, application of typical physiological techniques to analyze the barrier is difficult. Organoid‐derived monolayers (ODMs) were developed to overcome this. After optimizing culturing conditions, ODMs were characterized and compared to Caco‐2 and duodenal tissue. Tight junction composition and appearance were analyzed, and electrophysiological barrier properties, like paracellular and transcellular barrier function and macromolecule permeability, were evaluated. Furthermore, transcriptomic data were analyzed. ODMs had tight junction protein expression and paracellular barrier properties much more resembling the originating tissue than Caco‐2. Transcellular barrier was similar between ODMs and native tissue but was increased in Caco‐2. Transcriptomic data showed that Caco‐2 expressed fewer solute carriers than ODMs and native tissue. In conclusion, while Caco‐2 cells differ mostly in transcellular properties, ODMs reflect trans‐ and paracellular properties of the originating tissue. If cultured under optimized conditions, ODMs possess reproducible functionality, and the variety of different cell types makes them a suitable model for human tissue‐specific investigations. Abstract : In this work, we compared human duodenal tissue, organoid‐derived monolayers (ODMs) and Caco‐2 cells regarding their barrier properties, which are based on tight junctions. We show that human duodenal ODMs reflect human duodenal tissue properties better than the commonly used Caco‐2 cells, as evaluated for barrier function and protein expression. We conclude that ODMs serve as a good model for human intestinal barrier properties.