• Organoid Engineering and Biomimetic Scaffolds in Regenerative Medicine
Nagwa El-Badri, M.D., Ph.D. Canter of Excellence for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Zewail City of Science and Technology.
Vascularized human organoids provide a highly promising model of 3-D cell culture, as a new tool in drug discovery, disease modeling, and development of new therapeutic approaches for cancer and chronic diseases. Generation of human organoids that could faithfully mimic the diseased organ microenvironment involves the inclusion of the organ specific cells, supporting stroma and vascularization, in addition to suitable biomimetic scaffolds. Challenges with current organoids include lack of vascularization. This challenge could be overcome by the inclusion of pericyte vascular progenitor co-culture system. In this presentation, we provide an over view of the biomimetic scaffolds developed at our laboratory at the Center of Excellence for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, and the ongoing development of pericyte co-culture system for vasculization. Vascularized organoids could be successfully applied to provide an in vitro biomimetic platform for drug testing of cancer and chronic diseases, and in personalized medicine.
