To date, it has been difficult to develop organoids larger than a certain size to be used in in vitro research because it becomes increasingly difficult to supply them with oxygen and nutrients, which can lead to inner necrosis and cell death. To overcome this problem, a research team from the Cardiovascular Institute at Stanford University in California and from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Texas has succeeded in generating the earliest stages of vascular development in human heart and liver organoids in vitro.

The in vitro model represents a technical advance in answering questions about de novo organ vascularization. The observations indicate that there is a conserved developmental program involved in the formation of the vascular system in different organ systems.

Original publication:
Abilez OJ, Yang H, Guan Y, Shen M, Yildirim Z, Zhuge Y, Venkateshappa R, Zhao SR, Gomez AH, El-Mokhal M, Dunkenberger L, Ono Y, Shibata M, Nwokoye PN, Tian L, Wilson KD, Lyall EH, Jia F, Wo HT, Zou G, Aldana B, Karakikes I, Obal D, Petlz G, Zarins CK, Wu JC. Gastruloids enable modeling of the earliest stages of human cardiac and hepatic vascularization. Science 2025; in press.

Further information:
https://www.science.org/
https://med.stanford.edu/