The rise of organoids could revolutionize drug development
A mini-sized brain of the head of a ballpoint pen that spontaneously produces electrical activity, like a human brain. Far from science fiction, this model reduces body really exists. In the past five years, the manufacturing techniques of miniature organs called "organoid" significant progress. These could revolutionize research in pharmacology and limit the need for animal testing. Some are even organoids already about to be marketed.
Everything stems from a discovery that earned a Nobel Prize for Medicine to Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon in 2012. Simple cells taken from an adult can be genetically reprogrammed to become stem cells. These cells are called pluripotent able to turn into any kind of body tissue. Adequate stimulation is used to achieve the desired tissue. This process avoids the ethical issues of a collection of embryo stem cells. Organoid a three-dimensional (3D) can be created from these stem cells cultured in suspension in a suitable liquid medium.
Thomas Hartung, the professor at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, is one of many researchers in the field. According to him, " the organoids are the cell lines of XXI th century. An organoid can tell us more than just a cell culture in vitro in two dimensions, for example on the interactions between cells and the functions of the organ. But it is a conciliation between complexity and feasibility " . The organoids do not reach the level of complexity of a real body, which it is currently impossible to recreate the functionality. So we create streamlined bodies.
As a true brain
The researcher developed mini-brain stimulating pluripotent cells to become nerve cells. These miniature brains measure 350 micrometers in diameter - the size of the head of a ballpoint pen. Lack of blood flow, the cells of the organoid does not have access to nutrients and oxygen needed for growth. These elements necessarily come from the external environment and do not reach the inside of the cell mass. Therefore organoids size is very small.
Hundreds of thousands of identical copies can be obtained in each batch. These mini ERV aux not the actual anatomy of a brain but have some of its functionality. The analysis of their electrical activity by electroencephalogram revealed that cells communicate with each other, as they would in a real brain.
As one can observe stem cells to change to become organoids, these are the tools of choice to study disease resulting from a defect in the development or degradation of a specific organ. They allow real-time observation and understanding of the causes of these diseases. Nothing on the brain, a variety of studies is underway: multiple sclerosis, autism, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Of mini ERV aux is also used for research on viral infections, trauma, and stroke.
The Track Zika
A study of mini ERV aux published April 22 in the journal Cell has even been able to confirm that the virus Zika causes microcephaly - an abnormally small skull - in fetuses of infected pregnant women. By infecting mini ERV aux at different stages of development, the researchers were able to identify the faulty stem cells.
At QGel, a satellite company of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) who participated last week at the World Biomaterials Congress in Montreal, the organoids are of a different kind. These are cancer cells, the tumor called organoid tumoroïdes. Whether from lung, colon or ovarian cancer, each tumor can be grown on an industrial scale in a specific environment developed by the company. " Starting from a single biopsy, our technology can grow more 2000 identical tumors in 3D, in small test tubes , says Colin Sanctuary, co-founder of QGel. This will then quickly compare the effectiveness of drugs on these thousands of tumors, which represent so many mini patients. "
Each tumor is confronted with different versions or combinations of drugs in development. A fluorescence system is then used to determine the most effective drug. Specific DNA markers allow a fluorescence emission which is detected by microscopy. Over the tumoroïde is fluorescent, unless the drug has been effective.
Quickly and Cost
Thus, organoids are already a tool that is both fast and cost-effective for pharmacological tests. They could also accelerate the development of personalized medicine in the coming years. " To test potential drugs on a patient's cells would save his health directly prescribing him the most effective treatment " if Colin Sanctuary enthusiasm.
Currently, drugs are often tested in animal models prior to testing in human cells. The organoids could, in the long term replace animal testing. John Frampton, a researcher at the Canadian Dalhousie University, however, think that " they are still far from fully replace animals. The bodies are usually not whole. The mini ERV aux, for example, is in fact only balls cortical cells, they do not reflect the complexity of the whole brain . "
Moreover, it should be able to recreate the routes by which drugs access the brain in real conditions. Research is still ongoing. Thomas Hartung seeks, for example, to improve its miniature brains by including immune cells and a blood-brain barrier that filters the intake of blood to the brain - hence the drugs.
To make its technology available to other laboratories, startups QGel sells its growth tumoroïdes kits to research laboratories. The American company ORGANOME it will market the mini ERV aux developed by Thomas Hartung in 2016 from laboratories in Baltimore.
Research projects on organoids abound, but the researcher does not see it as a competition: " We all benefit from the experience of others. All our "recipes" are shared. Our interest is to advance science " if he exalts.
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