Towards organoid culture without Matrigel
Abstract
Organoids—cellular aggregates derived from stem or progenitor cells that recapitulate organ function in miniature—are of growing interest in developmental biology and medicine. Organoids have been developed for organs and tissues such as the liver, gut, brain, and pancreas; they are used as organ surrogates to study a wide range of questions in basic and developmental biology, genetic disorders, and therapies. However, many organoids reported to date have been cultured in Matrigel, which is prepared from the secretion of Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm mouse sarcoma cells; Matrigel is complex and poorly defined. This complexity makes it difficult to elucidate Matrigel-specific factors governing organoid development. In this review, we discuss promising Matrigel-free methods for the generation and maintenance of organoids that use decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM), synthetic hydrogels, or gel-forming recombinant proteins.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 10, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1038/s42003-021-02910-8
Entities
People
- Christiana Crook
- Hsun Teresa Ku
- Mark T Kozlowski
Organizations
- National Institutes of Health
- United States Department of Defense