Around 5% of the adult population suffer from dry eye syndrome because their tear glands don't function properly
Most organs in the adult human body are capable of regeneration, which means they renew their cells to keep the tissue healthy and functional. This capacity is enabled by adult stem cells, which are present in most organs and divide to create new cells that replace older, damaged ones.
It turns out these stem cells can be isolated and grown in the lab. When we do this, the stem cells form tiny replicants of the organs from which they were extracted, which we call organoids.
Alongside our colleague Yorick Post, who recently moved from Utrecht to the Silicon Valley commercial sector, weve produced a human tear gland organoid, which weve been able to make cry organoid tears not by being nasty, of course, but by subjecting the organoid to adrenaline, which is released in humans when theyre subjected to pain. By studying our organoid tears, we might be able to help develop treatments for dry eye disease, including by transplanting our organoids back into human patients.
Mini organs
Until recently, it was very difficult to study stem cells in the lab as they could not be cultured in a Petri dish. Then, in 2009, the perfect recipe was found to culture stem cells of the intestine, which grew into tiny replicates of the intestine: a mini organ. Because of this resemblance, we now call these in vitro models organoids.
Since then, most organs have been made in organoid form, used to study the physiology and illnesses associated with that particular tissue. More recently, organoids have been used to study how SARS-CoV2 affects different organs, finding that SARS-CoV2 could infect the human intestine, explaining why some patients with COVID-19 experienced diarrhoea.
With more and more organs being created as organoids in the lab, we searched for an organ that hadnt been considered yet: the tear gland. The tear gland is actually a very important organ: it produces the tears that lubricate the eye and protect it from infections.
When the tear gland doesnt function properly, people experience itchiness and pain, a disease known as dry eye. This occurs in at least 5 per cent of the adult population worldwide. Until now, studies of this disease were hindered by the lack of a good human tear gland model. We set out to establish one, by creating tear gland organoids.
Gland designs
To start an organoid culture, you need tissue directly from a patient. We obtained tear gland samples from the hospital and processed them into small pieces.
These pieces were placed in a droplet of gel, like a cushion. Importantly, this gel allows stem cells to grow in a three-dimensional environment, enabling them to organise into any shape. By stimulating the tear gland stem cells to divide, we made our culture grow. A few days later, we could actually see the first tear gland organoids in a dish, shaped like a sphere.
This was only the first step, as these tear gland organoids mostly contained stem cells. Tear gland stem cells are different from the mature cells that are present in the tear gland. Importantly, the stem cells themselves are not capable of making or shedding tears.
But tear gland stem cells do give rise to mature tear gland cells that are capable of crying. This process is called differentiation, and it takes place as soon as we stop stimulating stem cells to divide into other stem cells. We found it took at least seven days of culturing before our tear gland organoids could produce tears.
Tearjerkers
The final step in our experiments was to make our organoids cry. In humans, crying upon feeling pain is induced by stimuli such as adrenaline. To recreate this process in a dish, we exposed our tear gland organoids to adrenaline. Adrenaline made our tear gland organoid spheres swell like balloons. The organoids were secreting their tears on the inside: crying, but with nowhere for their tears to go.
What can now be done with these tear gland organoids? First, scientists can use them to study how the tear gland works: how it makes tears, what kind of tears it can make and what happens when the tear gland does not produce tears anymore.
At present, people with dry eye disease must constantly apply eye drops to lubricate the ocular surface. With tear gland organoids, scientists can now screen for better, more effective medicines that could help treat dry eye disease. Tear gland organoids could even eventually be transplanted back into patients with dry eye.
This strategy is already being applied in a clinical trial with salivary gland organoids. Patients treated by radiotherapy following head and neck cancers often lose their salivary glands, resulting in dry mouth. Its hoped that transplanted salivary gland organoids could treat this affliction.
One other tissue we have our eye on is the tear gland of a crocodile which is remarkably similar to human tear glands, but with some interesting differences. One day soon we may grow crocodile tear gland organoids in our lab, producing crocodile tears in the clinical environment of a Petri dish for the very first time.
Hans Clevers, professor, medicine, Utrecht University, contributed to this article.
Marie Bannier-Hlaout, PhD student, Hubrecht Institute, Utrecht University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
See the article here:
We grew human tear glands in the lab, and now we're making them cry - Down To Earth Magazine
- Biology of stem cells: an overview - PMC - National Center for ... - March 26th, 2024
- Iron Limitation Preserves Youthfulness of Blood Stem Cells - Mirage News - March 13th, 2024
- Mini organs grown from stem cells of unborn babies for the first time in breakthrough - The Mirror - March 9th, 2024
- The Effect of Short-Term NAD3 Supplementation on Circulating Adult Stem Cells in Healthy Individuals Aged 40-70 ... - Cureus - March 7th, 2024
- University of Liverpool Spin-Out Emerges, Pioneering Novel Adult Stem Cell-Based Therapies - India Education Diary - March 7th, 2024
- Scientists have used cells from fluid drawn during pregnancy to grow mini lungs and other organs - Yahoo News Canada - March 6th, 2024
- Japan approves new stem cell-based Alzheimer's therapy By Proactive Investors - Investing.com Australia - January 20th, 2024
- Cyberstalking pits Harvard professor against PubPeer Retraction ... - Retraction Watch - December 5th, 2023
- 10 functional health predictions for 2024, according to a doctor and ... - 1330 WFIN - December 5th, 2023
- See the Brain Like Never Before in This Gorgeous Art - Scientific American - December 5th, 2023
- Geron Announces Publication in The Lancet of Results from the ... - BioSpace - December 5th, 2023
- Stem cell injections could be the key to curing MS - Freethink - December 3rd, 2023
- Jaypirca (pirtobrutinib) Now Approved by U.S. FDA for the ... - Investors | Eli Lilly and Company - December 3rd, 2023
- Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Four JAK Inhibitors for ... - HealthDay - December 3rd, 2023
- City lights up for Francis on Anthony Nolan's birthday - Liverpool Express - December 3rd, 2023
- NOT-AR-23-022: Request for Information on Themes for the NIAMS ... - National Institutes of Health (.gov) - December 3rd, 2023
- December 2023: Intramural Papers of the Month - Environmental Factor Newsletter - December 1st, 2023
- CNA Explains: What is cord blood banking and why do parents do it? - CNA - December 1st, 2023
- Regulation of myogenesis and adipogenesis by the electromagnetic ... - Nature.com - December 1st, 2023
- The effects of vitamin K on bone health - News-Medical.Net - December 1st, 2023
- Dr Hurwitz on Ongoing Investigations of the Use of CAR T-Cell ... - OncLive - December 1st, 2023
- Mitophagy in human health, ageing and disease - Nature.com - December 1st, 2023
- Adult Stem Cells - Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine ... - November 29th, 2023
- Navigating The Regulatory Landscape Of Longevity Health Products ... - Mondaq News Alerts - November 29th, 2023
- MS breakthrough could lead to treatments that halt disease's ... - inews - November 29th, 2023
- Reprogramming tissue mechanically to promote wound healing - Phys.org - November 29th, 2023
- Latest Advances in Arthritis Diagnosis and Treatment at American ... - HealthDay - November 29th, 2023
- Sex-associated differences in frequencies and prognostic impact of ... - Nature.com - November 29th, 2023
- Hematologists Dive into the Current Treatment Landscape - OncLive - November 29th, 2023
- Team discovers protein crucial for B cell differentiation and antibodies - Phys.org - November 29th, 2023
- Science Talk - I survived cancer as a child and now I'm working to ... - The Institute of Cancer Research - November 29th, 2023
- First Edition: Nov. 29, 2023 - KFF Health News - November 29th, 2023
- Symptoms: Unilateral Hearing Loss and Tinnitus : The Hearing Journal - LWW Journals - November 29th, 2023
- Mitigation of sepsis-induced acute lung injury by BMSCs | IJN - Dove Medical Press - November 29th, 2023
- A Case of a Constricted Vessel: The Impact of Acute Myeloid ... - Cureus - November 29th, 2023
- Mum brushed off fatigue after having baby but fall sparked deadly diagnosis - The Mirror - November 29th, 2023
- How heritable is the epigenome? - Drug Discovery News - November 29th, 2023
- The Blueprint of Regeneration: Scientists Discover How to Turn Stem Cells Fate - Revyuh - November 27th, 2023
- BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Announces In-Person Meeting with ... - Marketscreener.com - November 27th, 2023
- Stem Cell Therapy Developed in Korea Begins Treatment for ... - PharmiWeb.com - November 25th, 2023
- COVID-19 Pandemic's Adverse Effect on Bone Health in Young ... - HealthDay - November 25th, 2023
- Sickle cell breakthrough - The Indian Express - November 25th, 2023
- Wall thickness analysis method for judging the degree of lower ... - Nature.com - November 25th, 2023
- Century Therapeutics to Present at the Piper Sandler 35th Annual Healthcare Conference - Yahoo Finance - November 23rd, 2023
- Disease Transmission and Diagnosis of Zika Virus - Cureus - November 23rd, 2023
- Gene-editing therapy for sickle cell earns conditional approval in UK - Sickle Cell Disease News - November 23rd, 2023
- Stem Cell Therapy Developed in Korea Begins Treatment for ... - Newswire - November 21st, 2023
- Efficacy of ADSC-CM in Patients with Telogen Effluvium | SCCAA - Dove Medical Press - November 21st, 2023
- BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Announces In-Person Meeting with ... - PR Newswire - November 21st, 2023
- The Impact of CAR T Cell Therapy on Managing R/R LBCL - OncLive - November 21st, 2023
- Mansour bin Zayed witnesses inauguration of ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 - ZAWYA - November 21st, 2023
- Listeria: Who is most susceptible? What are the Symptoms? What ... - Food Poison Journal - November 21st, 2023
- Scope Of Issued Patents May Be Limited By Prosecution Estoppel ... - Mondaq News Alerts - November 21st, 2023
- Qrons Announces the Addition of Professor Shiri Navon-Venezia to ... - StreetInsider.com - November 21st, 2023
- Financially strapped Athersys raises $10.4M - cleveland.com - November 19th, 2023
- From the India Today archives (2010) | How stem cells can save your life - India Today - November 19th, 2023
- Inactivation of the tumor suppressor gene Apc synergizes with H ... - Science - November 19th, 2023
- The Origins of Multiple Myeloma and Why it Matters - HealthTree For AML - Acute Myeloid Leukemia - November 19th, 2023
- Treatment Considerations With TROP2-Targeted Therapy - OncLive - November 19th, 2023
- Athersys narrows loss, raises $10.4 million during third quarter to ... - The Business Journals - November 17th, 2023
- Who was Dolly the Sheep and what happened to her? The story of ... - BBC Countryfile Magazine - November 17th, 2023
- UK first to approve CRISPR treatment for diseases: what you need to ... - Nature.com - November 17th, 2023
- 1st sickle cell patient to be given therapy restoring fetal hemoglobin - Sickle Cell Disease News - November 15th, 2023
- Century Therapeutics Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results and Provides Business Updates - Century - Benzinga - November 13th, 2023
- Century Therapeutics Appoints Brent Pfeiffenberger, Pharm.D., MBA, as Chief Executive Officer - Yahoo Finance - November 11th, 2023
- Century Therapeutics and FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics Announce Licenses for the Development and Commercialization of iPSC-Derived Cell Therapies in... - November 11th, 2023
- AAO 2023: Paul Runge and his ROP treatments in the Ukraine - Modern Retina - November 11th, 2023
- The Evolutionary Reasons We Are Drawn To Horror Movies and ... - Slashdot - November 11th, 2023
- Century Therapeutics Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results ... - GlobeNewswire - November 11th, 2023
- Century Therapeutics Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results ... - StreetInsider.com - November 9th, 2023
- NYU Langone Health Performs World's First Whole-Eye & Partial ... - NYU Langone Health - November 9th, 2023
- BrainStorm to Announce Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results and ... - BioSpace - November 9th, 2023
- Can we cut cost and pain of IVF? Start-up CEO tries out own ... - Genetic Literacy Project - November 9th, 2023
- Jasper Therapeutics Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results ... - BioSpace - November 9th, 2023
- Impaired neural stress resistance and loss of REST in bipolar ... - Nature.com - November 9th, 2023
- Functional genomics and systems biology in human neuroscience - Nature.com - November 9th, 2023
- Trial launched to test CAR T-cell therapy in dogs diagnosed with ... - EurekAlert - November 9th, 2023
- The-Gut's-Lasting-Impact-on-Severe-COVID-19-Immune-Response - Infectious Disease Special Edition - November 9th, 2023
- Emerging Cure for Sickle Cell on its Way to FDA Approval, Carries ... - Dallasweekly - November 7th, 2023
- The science works, but will we pay for it? - Irish Medical Times - November 7th, 2023
Recent Comments