A novel in vitro model of the human intestinal epithelium in co-culture with “gut-like” dendritic cells

Project Description

In the UK, over half a million people have an Inflammatory Bowel Disease, like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. These diseases cause painful symptoms like severe pain, diarrhoea, and weight loss. This is due to the body's immune system attacking the digestive system, resulting in chronic inflammation.
To work properly, the immune system in the gut needs to balance between fighting harmful germs and accepting good bacteria. The communication system between the body's immune cells and the cells lining the intestine, along with diet and good bacteria, keeps this balance. If this communication fails, it leads to chronic inflammation.

Researchers want to understand this cellular conversation better to find potential treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases. However, studying this in a real setting has its challenges. We plan to make a simplified version of the gut, called "organoids", in the lab. These organoids will be made from human stem cells. These will create special gut-specific immune cells in the lab, as the immune cells in the gut are quite unique.
The researchers will then see how these lab-made gut and immune cells interact. This will help them understand how various factors, like diet or medication, affect the gut's immune response. The ultimate goal is to create a lab model that doesn't use animals. This will help in understanding and finding new treatments for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and could even be used for testing drugs without using animals.