Tissue engineering to mitigate the negative impact of digestive diseases and disorders

Epithelial tissues cover all exposed body surfaces, line most of our organs and form barriers that protect the body against physical, chemical and microbial harm. An EU initiative, funded through the European Research Council, is providing a new cell culture platform for epithelial tissues that can advance the in vitro modelling of diseases, preclinical screening for drug efficacy and toxicity, and the understanding of organ development.

Functional in vitro models of epithelial tissues are key elements in basic biological research, disease modelling, drug discovery and regenerative or personalised medicine. Clinical applications of tissue engineering are hampered by the risk of bacterial infection due to the lack of functional epithelial engineered tissues. In the case of the small intestinal epithelium, functional in vitro models are needed to accurately predict the absorbance of drugs delivered orally.

Further details: Tissue engineering to mitigate the negative impact of digestive diseases and disorders