Dissecting gastric carcinogenesis: A novel approach using organoid models

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K07422
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 49030:Experimental pathology-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Kunita Akiko 東京大学, 医学部附属病院, 特任講師 (50608768)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 胃癌 / オルガノイド

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have developed a method for establishing gastric organoids from resected gastric cancer specimens. The xenografts generated by transplanting tumor-derived organoids into the subcutaneous tissues of nude mice or SCID mice exhibited a similar structure to that of the original surgical specimens, thus establishing a gastric cancer model that reflects the characteristics of the surgical specimens.
In addition, we have improved the gene delivery method to organoids using lentivirus and established a method with higher cell viability and transfection efficiency. This method can be applied to study various pathological conditions of the stomach, including intestinal metaplasia and gastric cancer.

Free Research Field

実験病理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

胃癌は日本人に多い癌であり胃癌制圧の為の基礎研究が急務である。これまでに多くの胃癌のゲノムデータが蓄積されているものの胃上皮培養法の欠如により胃発癌を端的に解析することが困難であり、胃発癌分子機構は未解明であった。本研究では新たな胃の病態モデルとしてオルガノイド技術の開発を行った。本技術により胃癌の病態に限らず他の臓器に応用することにより、あらゆる臓器の病態解明に結びつくと考えられる基盤を形成した。