水凝胶材料在类器官研究中的应用进展

Application of hydrogel materials for organoids

类器官指通过干细胞自组织在体外三维(3D)培养条件下分化形成的功能性细胞组织复合体,能够反映人体来源组织或器官的部分关键结构和功能特征,是一种极具前景的体外模型体系.目前,多数类器官的形成和培养都依赖复杂的动物来源细胞外基质(如Matrigel),该类基质的肿瘤源性和批次差异性影响了类器官培养的重现性,难以满足生物医学研究的需求.相比之下,各种天然和合成基水凝胶成分明确,具有高度可调的物理和化学特性,已广泛用于各种细胞的3D培养.本文概述了类器官的形成与培养现状,重点介绍了各种已用于类器官研究的水凝胶材料及其设计与工程化策略,讨论了功能化水凝胶材料在类器官基础研究和转化应用方面的潜力,并对其未来的发展趋势与面临挑战进行了展望.

Organoids are functional tissue complexes derived from stem cell by self-organization under in vitro three-dimensional(3D)culture conditions,which can reflect some of the key structural and functional features of the tissue/organ in vivo.However,the formation and culture of most organoids rely heavily on complex extracellular matrices,such as Matrigel,and the tumor-origin and batch variability of these matrices seriously reduce the reproducibility of organoids culture and the safety in subsequent regenerative medicine applications.In addition,due to the lack of adjustability of physical and chemical properties,the above-mentioned matrices are difficult to meet the needs of personalized and customized biomedical research.On the contrary,the hydrogel with single and clear composition has the characteristics of accurate and adjustable biochemical and biophysical properties,which is promising to address the disadvantages of existing organoid matrix,and further realize the construction of more near-physiological organoid models and facilitate their translational application.In this review,we first introduce the existing systems of organoid formation and culture,as well as common hydrogel materials used in organoids research.Then,we introduce the engineering method of hydrogel materials and its representative application in organoids research.Finally,we discuss the potential and future challenges of functional hydrogels in organoid research and translational applications,to provide reference for the utilization of such hydrogels in organoid construction,culture and in-depth research.