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INFANT AND ADULT HUMAN INTESTINAL ENTEROIDS ARE MORPHOLOGICALLY AND FUNCTIONALLY DISTINCT

ABSTRACT: Intestinal tissues from 3 infants and 3 adults were obtained and the stem cells were isolated to generate enteroids. Enteroids were differentiated for 5 days prior to RNA extraction and sequencing.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE227205 | GEO | 2023/08/07

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Human intestinal enteroids (HIEs) are gaining recognition as physiologically relevant models of the intestinal epithelium. While HIEs from adults are used extensively in biomedical research, few studies have used HIEs from infants. Considering the dramatic developmental changes that occur during infancy, it is important to establish models that represent infant intestinal characteristics and physiological responses. We established jejunal HIEs from infant surgical samples and performed comparisons to jejunal HIEs from adults using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and morphologic analyses. We then validated differences in key pathways through functional studies and determined whether these cultures recapitulate known features of the infant intestinal epithelium. RNA-Seq analysis showed significant differences in the transcriptome of infant and adult HIEs, including differences in genes and pathways associated with cell differentiation and proliferation, tissue development, lipid metabolism, innate immunity, and biological adhesion. Validating these results, we observed a higher abundance of cells expressing specific enterocyte, goblet cell, and enteroendocrine cell markers in differentiated infant HIE monolayers, and greater numbers of proliferative cells in undifferentiated 3D cultures. Compared to adult HIEs, infant HIEs portray characteristics of an immature gastrointestinal epithelium including significantly shorter cell height, lower epithelial barrier integrity, and lower innate immune responses to infection with an oral poliovirus vaccine. HIEs established from infant intestinal tissues reflect characteristics of the infant gut and are distinct from adult cultures. Our data support the use of infant HIEs as an ex vivo model to advance studies of infant-specific diseases and drug discovery for this population.ImportanceTissue or biopsy stem cell-derived human intestinal enteroids are increasingly recognized as physiologically relevant models of the human gastrointestinal epithelium. While enteroids from adults and fetal tissues have been extensively used for studying many infectious and non-infectious diseases, there are few reports on enteroids from infants. We show that infant enteroids exhibit both transcriptomic and morphological differences compared to adult cultures. They also differ in functional responses to barrier disruption and innate immune responses to infection, suggesting that infant and adult enteroids are distinct model systems. Considering the dramatic changes in body composition and physiology that begin during infancy, tools that appropriately reflect intestinal development and diseases are critical. Infant enteroids exhibit key features of the infant gastrointestinal epithelium. This study is significant in establishing infant enteroids as age-appropriate models for infant intestinal physiology, infant-specific diseases, and responses to pathogens.

Project description:In childhood, developmental changes and environmental interactions highly affect orally dosed drug disposition across the age range. To optimize dosing regimens and ensure safe use of drugs in pediatric patients, understanding this age-dependent biology is necessary. In this proof-of-concept study, we aimed to culture age-specific enteroids from infant tissue which represent its original donor material, specifically for drug transport and metabolism. Enteroid lines from fresh infant tissues (n = 8, age range: 0.3-45 postnatal weeks) and adult tissues (n = 3) were established and expanded to 3D self-organizing enteroids. The gene expression of drug transporters P-gp (ABCB1), BCRP (ABCG2), MRP2 (ABCC2), and PEPT1 (SLC15A1) and drug metabolizing enzymes CYP3A4, CYP2C18, and UGT1A1 was determined with RT-qPCR in fresh tissue and its derivative differentiated enteroids. Expression levels of P-gp, BCRP, MRP2, and CYP3A4 were similar between tissues and enteroids. PEPT1 and CYP2C18 expression was lower in enteroids compared to that in the tissue. The expression of UGT1A1 in the tissue was lower than that in enteroids. The gene expression did not change with the enteroid passage number for all genes studied. Similar maturational patterns in tissues and enteroids were visually observed for P-gp, PEPT1, MRP2, CYP3A4, CYP2C18, and VIL1. In this explorative study, interpatient variability was high, likely due to the diverse patient characteristics of the sampled population (e.g., disease, age, and treatment). To summarize, maturational patterns of clinically relevant ADME genes in tissue were maintained in enteroids. These findings are an important step toward the potential use of pediatric enteroids in pediatric drug development, which in the future may lead to improved pediatric safety predictions during drug development. We reason that such an approach can contribute to a potential age-specific platform to study and predict drug exposure and intestinal safety in pediatrics.