Feb 2, 2021

Matthias Lütolf on intestinal organoids

The NCCR Microbiomes is thrilled to welcome Prof. Matthias Lütolf as our first external invited speaker in our Seminar Series. Lütolf heads the Laboratory of Stem Cell Bioengineering (LSCB) at EPFL and is a world-leading scientist in the field of organoids—miniature tissues and organs differentiated in the lab from stem cells.

The LSCB studies how cells interact with each other and with their environment to build tissues and organs. Through the use of groundbreaking bioengineering approaches, the lab assembles organoids, such as gastruloids, retinal organoids and intestinal organoids, from stem cells, with improved reproducibility and physiological relevance.

In recently published work, the Lütolf lab used bioprinting, tissue self-organization and microfluidics technology to grow mini-intestines that resemble and behave like real mammalian tissues. These new-generation intestinal organoids offer a much more realistic spatial structure and an increased lifespan, a great step towards lab models that complement animal testing. Besides their use for basic research, mini-intestines could thus advance research in drug discovery, diagnostics and regenerative medicine.

Mini-intestines have huge potential for microbiome research as well, since they can be colonized by selected microbes under tightly controlled conditions. We invite you to learn more about this exciting prospect during Lütolf’s talk:‘Engineering next-generation intestinal organoids for modelling host-microbe interactions’.

The work of Lütolf and his team is partly funded by the NCCR Bio-Inspired Materials.