Organoid technologies are a potent tool for investigating human biology, modelling diseases and developing novel therapies. In this Viewpoint, experts in metabolic and endocrine research in the brain, pituitary, skeletal muscle, bone and gastrointestinal system discuss how organoids and related bioengineered systems are currently used in their field and how innovations in these technologies could transform future research.
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Acknowledgements
P.M.G. is cross-appointed to the Donnelly Centre and to the Department of Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Toronto. H.H.N. is supported by grants from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the National Medical Research Council of Singapore. H.H.N. is grateful to Dr Alfred Sun (Duke-NUS Medical School) for discussion during the preparation of this manuscript. H.V. was supported by grants from the KU Leuven Research Fund and the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO) – Flanders (Belgium).
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J.M.W. holds patents for intestinal and gastric organoids licensed by STEMCELL technologies. The other authors declare no competing interests.
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The Contributors
Penney M. Gilbert is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Endogenous Repair. She is co-director of the PREDICT consortium.
Sandra Hofmann is an Associate Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Her research focuses on bioengineering skeletal tissues, with an emphasis on bone. Her work is characterized by a keen interest in understanding how cells react to environmental parameters in tissue-engineered in vitro models of bone tissue, including bone organoids.
Huck-Hui Ng is a Senior Group Leader at the Genome Institute of Singapore at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University. He has made significant contributions to the fields of stem cell biology, gene regulatory networks, genomics and organoids, and has multiple appointments with A*STAR and other organizations.
Hugo Vankelecom obtained his PhD at KU Leuven and is a professor at the Stem Cell and Developmental Biology unit at that university. He leads a group specializing in pituitary (and reproductive) research, which discovered pituitary stem cells and developed an innovative pituitary stem cell organoid model. His research focuses on pituitary stem cell biology and tumorigenesis in the gland.
James M. Wells is an endowed professor in the Division of Developmental Biology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Research Foundation and is the Director of Basic Research in the Division of Endocrinology. He is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine.
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Gilbert, P.M., Hofmann, S., Ng, HH. et al. Organoids in endocrine and metabolic research: current and emerging applications. Nat Rev Endocrinol 20, 195–201 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00933-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00933-1