Using populations of cells from specific lineages (cell lines) has been a common practice in biomedical research starting from the mid-20th century. By performing various experiments with these cells, scientists have learned more about cellular and organ functions throughout the body. However, more recently, scientists have managed to partially replicate real organs through the use of organoids. Organoids are 3-dimensional tissue structures that are made from stem cells. With organoids, we can study how different types of cells interact with each other. For instance, we can study brain organoids to observe different neurological diseases, and see how different treatments impact the organoids before applying these to the human population. When it comes to cancer, organoids can be particularly useful as a new way to test drugs or other treatments in a model that can more accurately mimic how tissues organize compared to cell lines. A recent scientific paper uses organoids in the context of cancer, where researchers have developed a 3 dimensional organoid-based model that successfully mimics the pancreas, an abdominal organ involved with digestion.
The human pancreas contributes to digestive function and blood sugar regulation. Pancreatic cancer is typically very deadly because symptoms aren’t usually noticed until the later stages of disease.
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In order to achieve this model, the authors first tested a cell culture of human pancreatic cancer cells and various different microscopic environments. These experiments allowed the authors to find the parameters by which to grow the organoids. Once they built the organoid, they tested it with some markers of cancer to see if the organoid successfully mimics the microbiological symptoms of cancer. One of these hallmarks is tissue stiffness, which references how flexible tissue is towards being perturbed, and relates to stress on the tissue. Generally, tissue stiffness increases in tissues affected by cancer. The scientists tuned their organoid system in order to recapitulate the stiffness measured in cancer tissue. Lastly, the authors incorporated cell populations often found in pancreatic cancer tumors into their setup. Due to these observations, they concluded that their organoid system is suitable for further research into pancreatic cancer. By using these models, the scientific community can better replicate cancer in the lab in order to more effectively find drugs or other treatments that can work in the clinic for pancreatic cancer patients.
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