Scientists grew small lacrimal glands in the dish-then made them cry

At first, it took a long time (up to a day) to make the cells cry. But with experience and a little nod, the researchers eventually made them cry in just 30 minutes.

Culture of tears reported in Cell stem cell On March 16th, there is the first lacrimal gland “organoid”. This is a three-dimensional collection of cells designed to resemble a miniature version of an organ. Organoids of the glands that produce tears can be used to study and ultimately treat the disorders that cause dry eye, including an autoimmune condition called Sjogren’s syndrome.

“It’s very promising,” says Geeta Vemganti, an eye pathologist at the University of Hyderabad, India.

In addition to expressing emotions, tears help smooth and protect the eyes. Dry eye is painful, inflamed, and susceptible to infection.

To study tear production, developmental biologist Hans Clever’s lab at the Utrecht University Medical Center in the Netherlands has developed a method for growing lacrimal gland cells as organoids. This group found ways to grow organoid zoos, including miniature liver, cervical cancer, and snake venom glands.

Spring up

Lacrimal glands, also known as lacrimal glands, are particularly difficult to study, says Darlene Dart, who studies the formation of lacrimal glands in the eyes and ears of Boston’s Massachusetts. The glands are located above each eyeball and behind the orbit of the bones of the eye, making biopsy difficult. If a researcher has a sample available, she says, the sample is often small.

Clevers’ lab used their expertise to elucidate the conditions for culturing cells from the lacrimal glands of mice and humans. To stimulate tear production, they then exposed organoids to several chemicals, including the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which relays messages between nerve cells and glands.

Organoids do not have tubes, so when a “crevice” occurs, the organoid expands. “If there were a small duct, there would have been water droplets,” Clevers says. And when the team transplanted the organoids into mice, the community matured and developed a duct-like structure containing the proteins found in tears.

The team hopes that the cells can be used to study the lacrimal glands and screen for drugs that affect tear development. Clevers and his colleagues have already studied lacrimal gland development using CRISPR genome editing and Pax6 It is important in guiding cells to take on the identity of the lacrimal gland. Pax6 Is a known regulator of eye development: represents a fly version Pax6 You will be able to see the legs of Drosophila.

Clevers’ lab is currently working with Dutch naturalist and television show host Freek Vonk to study a structure that resembles the lacrimal glands of a crocodile. The team wants to use organoids to study the actual “crocodile tears” that reptiles use as a way to excrete salt.

Possibility of transplantation

Organoids derived from human cells can ultimately provide materials for transplantation and replace diseased or damaged lacrimal glands. Clevers’ group and its collaborators have developed a salivary gland organelle that will be tested in clinical trials starting this summer for people suffering from thirst, which can cause tooth decay, chewing and taste difficulties.

These salivary gland tests could serve as a test site for devising ways to adapt to future lacrimal gland transplants, Dart said. Meanwhile, the work Clevers’ team has done to characterize the lacrimal glands, including creating a detailed cell-by-cell map of the structure and its organoids, is more heterogeneous than previously recognized glands. You can show that and send the researcher back to reinterpret the old data. “It affects a lot of research.”

This article was reproduced with permission First edition March 16, 2021.