Abstract
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a complex system responsible for nutrient absorption, digestion, secretion, and elimination of waste products that also hosts immune surveillance, the intestinal microbiome, and interfaces with the nervous system. Traditional in vitro systems cannot harness the architectural and functional complexity of the GI tract. Recent advances in organoid engineering, microfluidic organs-on-a-chip technology, and microfabrication allows us to create better in vitro models of human organs/tissues. These micro-physiological systems could integrate the numerous cell types involved in GI development and physiology, including intestinal epithelium, endothelium (vascular), nerve cells, immune cells, and their interplay/cooperativity with the microbiome. In this review, we report recent progress in developing micro-physiological models of the GI systems. We also discuss how these models could be used to study normal intestinal physiology such as nutrient absorption, digestion, and secretion as well as GI infection, inflammation, cancer, and metabolism.
Highlights
The human gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the site of ingestion and digestion of nutrients, nutrient absorption, secretory function, and elimination of waste product (Trowers and Tischler, 2014)
We describe the recent efforts to develop microphysiological models of the GI system
The overarching goal of organ-on-a-chip technology is to emulate in vivo system physiology in a highly controllable environment
Summary
The human gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the site of ingestion and digestion of nutrients, nutrient absorption, secretory function, and elimination of waste product (Trowers and Tischler, 2014). The GI tract is a tubular structure which is composed of three main compartments: a muscular layer surrounding a mucous membrane and a lumen. An intrinsic nervous system called the enteric nervous system (ENS) helps regulate the muscular compartment and epithelial cells. The ENS is a dense network of neurons present throughout the GI. Its composition, neuronal density and morphology varies according to the digestive segment. Together with the muscular layers, it regulates intestinal motility, peristalsis, which is responsible for migration of the food bolus along the digestive tract. They provide a mechanical basis for the establishment of the mucosal architecture per se during development. The ENS is part of the “gut-brain axis” and, because of its autonomous property, is nowadays considered a “second brain” (Cryan and Dinan, 2012; Mayer et al, 2015; Martin et al, 2018)
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