Intestinal organoid-based 2D monolayers mimic physiological and pathophysiological properties of the pig intestine

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 23;16(8):e0256143. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256143. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal infectious diseases remain an important issue for human and animal health. Investigations on gastrointestinal infectious diseases are classically performed in laboratory animals leading to the problem that species-specific models are scarcely available, especially when it comes to farm animals. The 3R principles of Russel and Burch were achieved using intestinal organoids of porcine jejunum. These organoids seem to be a promising tool to generate species-specific in vitro models of intestinal epithelium. 3D Organoids were grown in an extracellular matrix and characterized by qPCR. Organoids were also seeded on permeable filter supports in order to generate 2D epithelial monolayers. The organoid-based 2D monolayers were characterized morphologically and were investigated regarding their potential to study physiological transport properties and pathophysiological processes. They showed a monolayer structure containing different cell types. Moreover, their functional activity was demonstrated by their increasing transepithelial electrical resistance over 18 days and by an active glucose transport and chloride secretion. Furthermore, the organoid-based 2D monolayers were also confronted with cholera toxin derived from Vibrio cholerae as a proof of concept. Incubation with cholera toxin led to an increase of short-circuit current indicating an enhanced epithelial chloride secretion, which is a typical characteristic of cholera infections. Taken this together, our model allows the investigation of physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms focusing on the small intestine of pigs. This is in line with the 3R principle and allows the reduction of classical animal experiments.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Culture Techniques / methods*
  • Epithelial Cells / cytology
  • Intestinal Mucosa / cytology
  • Intestine, Small / cytology
  • Intestine, Small / metabolism*
  • Intestine, Small / physiology*
  • Intestines / cytology
  • Models, Biological
  • Organoids / cytology
  • Organoids / physiology
  • Swine / metabolism

Grants and funding

This project was funded by the Federal State of Lower Saxony in the joint project R2N – “Replace” and “Reduce” in Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) – Alternative methods to replace or reduce animal models in biomedical research. This publication was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation within the funding programme Open Access Publishing.