Abstract

Animal and cellular models are extensively used to understand biological processes. However, most of these models are inadequate in recreating human tissues, hampering the translation of knowledge we get from them. Organoids are a novel in vitro system generated from human primary tissues and recapitulating their architecture and cellular composition. Miniguts (enteric organoids) are 3D cell clusters generated from gut tissue showing similar characteristics and function to the gut. In this masterclass, we will give an overview of organoids and how this system can be used to study human intestinal diseases from noninfectious and infectious origin. Specifically, utilizing human miniguts we study the role of Interleukin-22 and the microbiota in the pathogenesis of IBD . We also use mouse miniguts to understand early interactions of the intestinal epithelia with whipworms, which are parasitic worms causing Trichuriasis, a neglected tropical disease.