Human organoids-on-chips for biomedical research and applications

Theranostics. 2024 Jan 1;14(2):788-818. doi: 10.7150/thno.90492. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Human organoids-on-chips (OrgOCs) are the synergism of human organoids (HOs) technology and microfluidic organs-on-chips (OOCs). OOCs can mimic extrinsic characteristics of organs, such as environmental clues of living tissue, while HOs are more amenable to biological analysis and genetic manipulation. By spatial cooperation, OrgOCs served as 3D organotypic living models allowing them to recapitulate critical tissue-specific properties and forecast human responses and outcomes. It represents a giant leap forward from the regular 2D cell monolayers and animal models in the improved human ecological niche modeling. In recent years, OrgOCs have offered potential promises for clinical studies and advanced the preclinical-to-clinical translation in medical and industrial fields. In this review, we highlight the cutting-edge achievements in OrgOCs, introduce the key features of OrgOCs architectures, and share the revolutionary applications in basic biology, disease modeling, preclinical assay and precision medicine. Furthermore, we discuss how to combine a wide range of disciplines with OrgOCs and accelerate translational applications, as well as the challenges and opportunities of OrgOCs in biomedical research and applications.

Keywords: drug discovery; living organoid biobank; organoids-on-chips; organs-on-chips; precision medicine.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biomedical Research*
  • Humans
  • Microfluidics
  • Models, Animal
  • Organoids*
  • Precision Medicine