In a collaboration between the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden, Germany, and Ludwig Cancer Research, Oxford, researchers have developed a next-generation liver organoid model capable of modelling complex liver architecture and aspects of liver disease, such as fibrosis.
The organoid model, called an assembloid, is composed of three liver cell types – adult hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, and liver mesenchymal cells. This effectively reconstructs the liver’s periportal region replicating its cellular composition and architecture.
To explore how these assembloids change over time and under different conditions, PhD student Ben Yang, co-supervised by Heather Harrington and Helen Byrne, used topological data analysis to quantify differences in the shape and morphology of assembloids, finding that some shapes correlated with better liver function over time.
To learn more about this work published in Nature, read the press release or the full study by following the links.