CRM External Seminar: Dr Meritxell Huch: Stem Cell Biologist and Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Talk title Liver Organoids to Investigate Disease Mechanisms Host Kei Kaji Abstract In vitro 3D organoid cultures are emerging as novel systems to study tissue development, organogenesis and stem cell behavior ex-vivo. Organoids are multicellular structures that (1) self-assemble and can be clonally expanded, (2) resemble the corresponding tissues-of-origin and (3) allow the study of some aspects of tissue development and tissue physiology in a dish. Over the past decade we have developed organoid cultures from healthy and diseased, human and mouse, adult and embryonic tissues for a range of organs including stomach, liver and pancreas. These, have allowed, for the first time, the long-term expansion of adult (stomach, liver and pancreas) tissues in a dish, thus defying the Hayflick limit, by which only cancer cells with aberrant ploidy and unstable genomes would expand in culture Here, I will present our organoid work and summarize our findings on how this culture system is amenable for the study of adult tissue regeneration and disease across different biological scales. At the cellular scale, we have recently found that heterotypic cellular interactions between stromal and epithelial cells dictate the behavior of the liver epithelia, thus reconciling the apparent dichotomy between a pro-regenerative and a pro-quiescent stromal niche. At the molecular scale, we have found that a transient, genome-wide remodeling, of the cells’ epigenome (DNA methylome/ hydroxymethylome), licenses adult differentiated liver cells to reprogram into bi-potent liver progenitors, both during organoid initiation and in vivo, following tissue damage. Our results indicate that adult tissue derived organoid cultures represent novel, reductionist in vitro models, that enable gaining mechanistic understanding of basic biological principles of human tissue regeneration and cancer. Bio Dr. Meritxell Huch is a Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, in Dresden (Germany). The Huch lab exploits both the liver, as a model of extensive regenerative capacity and the pancreas, which exhibits very little regeneration potential, to unveil the biological processes that control adult tissue homeostasis and repair and their deregulation in disease. Jan 18 2024 12.00 - 13.00 CRM External Seminar: Dr Meritxell Huch: Stem Cell Biologist and Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Dr Meritxell Huch: Stem Cell Biologist and Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. This event is a Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) external seminar which will take place in the seminar room, 1st floor, IRR North. Where to find us
CRM External Seminar: Dr Meritxell Huch: Stem Cell Biologist and Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Talk title Liver Organoids to Investigate Disease Mechanisms Host Kei Kaji Abstract In vitro 3D organoid cultures are emerging as novel systems to study tissue development, organogenesis and stem cell behavior ex-vivo. Organoids are multicellular structures that (1) self-assemble and can be clonally expanded, (2) resemble the corresponding tissues-of-origin and (3) allow the study of some aspects of tissue development and tissue physiology in a dish. Over the past decade we have developed organoid cultures from healthy and diseased, human and mouse, adult and embryonic tissues for a range of organs including stomach, liver and pancreas. These, have allowed, for the first time, the long-term expansion of adult (stomach, liver and pancreas) tissues in a dish, thus defying the Hayflick limit, by which only cancer cells with aberrant ploidy and unstable genomes would expand in culture Here, I will present our organoid work and summarize our findings on how this culture system is amenable for the study of adult tissue regeneration and disease across different biological scales. At the cellular scale, we have recently found that heterotypic cellular interactions between stromal and epithelial cells dictate the behavior of the liver epithelia, thus reconciling the apparent dichotomy between a pro-regenerative and a pro-quiescent stromal niche. At the molecular scale, we have found that a transient, genome-wide remodeling, of the cells’ epigenome (DNA methylome/ hydroxymethylome), licenses adult differentiated liver cells to reprogram into bi-potent liver progenitors, both during organoid initiation and in vivo, following tissue damage. Our results indicate that adult tissue derived organoid cultures represent novel, reductionist in vitro models, that enable gaining mechanistic understanding of basic biological principles of human tissue regeneration and cancer. Bio Dr. Meritxell Huch is a Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, in Dresden (Germany). The Huch lab exploits both the liver, as a model of extensive regenerative capacity and the pancreas, which exhibits very little regeneration potential, to unveil the biological processes that control adult tissue homeostasis and repair and their deregulation in disease. Jan 18 2024 12.00 - 13.00 CRM External Seminar: Dr Meritxell Huch: Stem Cell Biologist and Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Dr Meritxell Huch: Stem Cell Biologist and Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. This event is a Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) external seminar which will take place in the seminar room, 1st floor, IRR North. Where to find us
Jan 18 2024 12.00 - 13.00 CRM External Seminar: Dr Meritxell Huch: Stem Cell Biologist and Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Dr Meritxell Huch: Stem Cell Biologist and Executive Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany.
