Jamie Kang

[Molecular Psychiatry] Scientists replicated the altered corticogenesis in the Huntington's disease (HD) fetal brain using HD patient-derived human cortical organoids (hCOs). Our HD-hCOs had pathological phenotypes, including deficient junctional complexes in the neural tubes, delayed postmitotic neuronal maturation, dysregulated fate specification of cortical neuron subtypes, and abnormalities in early HD subcortical projections during corticogenesis.

[Cell Death & Disease] Investigators revealed that Cldn-7 deletion disrupts the self-renewal and differentiation of colonic stem cells alongside the formation of colonic organoids in vitro. Additionally, these Cldn-7 knockout models exhibited heightened susceptibility to experimental colitis, limited epithelial repair and regeneration, and increased differentiation toward the secretory lineage.

[Signal Transduction And Targeted Therapy] Researchers utilized islet organoids derived from human embryonic stem cells, animal models, and COVID-19 patients to discover that fibroblast growth factor 7 (FGF7) enhanced ACE2 expression within the islets, facilitating SARS-CoV-2 infection and resulting in impaired insulin secretion.

[Nature Communications] Using colorectal cancer patient-derived organoids, investigators found that compared to LGR5- cells, LGR5+ cancer stem cells were stiffer, adhered better to the extracellular matrix, moved slower both as single cells and clusters, displayed higher nuclear YAP, showed a higher survival rate in response to mechanical confinement, and form larger transendothelial gaps.

[Cell Death & Disease] Researchers used intestinal epithelial cells- and intestinal stem cells-specific Cldn-7 knockout mice to investigate the regulatory effects of Cldn-7 on colonic Lgr5+ stem cells in the mediation of colonic epithelial injury and repair under physiological and inflammatory conditions.

[Stem Cell Reviews And Reports] Scientists focused on stem cell related methodologies, such as organoids, that could serve as an alternative to animal testing and discuss its advantages and limitations, alongside regulatory considerations.