Drs. Mi-Young Son, Janghwan Kim, Cho-Rok Jung at the Stem Cell Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology published a new paper in regards of the development of in vitro maturation of a stem cell-derived organoids that functions similar to human small intestine.

The paper describes in vitro maturation techniques of human intestinal organoids (hIOs) by applying new 3D differentiation techniques from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Co-culture of human T lymphocytes with hIOs induces maturation of hIOs in vitro. Activation of STAT3 and IL-2 were witnessed as factors inducing maturation. hIOs exposed to lL-2 were similar to adult intestinal epithelium with similar mature intestinal markers expression levels and increased intestine-specific functional activity. After in vivo engraftment, hIOs maturated in vitro remained its maturation attribute to STAT3 signal inducing maturation of hIOs in vitro. Compared to conventional hIOs, it shows a specific gene marker and protein expression pattern observed in mature intestine and shows the possibility of functional reproduction. 

Further details of the paper can be referred at Nature Communications online published on August 2, 2018, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05450-8.