Project description
An analytical platform for organoid profiling
Organoids are emerging as promising tools for drug discovery and for studying disease pathogenesis. However, challenges associated with the capacity of organoids to recapitulate the complex structure and function of actual biological tissues and organs have limited their use. To address this, scientists of the EU-funded UltraRamanomics project propose to develop a bioanalytical platform for the phenotypic profiling of organoids derived from individual stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells. Using spectroscopy-based biochemical measurements, the platform will offer a direct comparison of different organoid models with great spatial resolution, filling a knowledge gap in stem cell organoid research.
Objective
Human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cell-based organoids have recently emerged as a promising model system to recapitulate the structure and function of actual biological tissues and organs. These 3D self-organized multi-cellular tissue systems bridge the gap from cell to tissue/organ levels, providing bio-relevant model systems with foreseeable utility in drug discovery, regenerative medicine, and the study of disease pathogenesis, but the increased complexity and unique attributes of each system introduces new challenges in cell culture and experimental reproducibility. While organoids offer profound potential for applications in biological and biomedical research, their scientific value is limited by how closely they mimic the in vivo tissue systems they are intended to model. To achieve a successful organoid-based predictive model system, it is crucial to have a quantitative biochemical and structural analysis technique for single cells and organoids.
In UltraRamanomics, I will develop a robust quantitatively-calibrated bioanalytical platform for high content phenotypic profiling of individual stem cells and hiPS cell-derived organoids, to allow direct structural and quantitative compositional comparison of organoid models in absolute biochemical measurements, thereby addressing the currently unmet analytical need. The platform will be based on micro-Raman spectroscopy – enabling direct measurements of the absolute biochemical composition of single-cells and tissue organoids with unprecedented spatial resolution – to provide a novel analytical solution to the existing gap in stem cell organoid research. This proposal takes full advantage of recent advances in ultraquantitative micro-calibration technology I developed during my PhD, quantitative volumetric Raman imaging (qVRI) methodology developed by the Stevens Group, and the organoid-on-a-chip platform in development at the Centre of Excellence Hybrid Technology Hub with the Krauss Group (Secondment).
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
SW7 2AZ LONDON
United Kingdom