Normal Tissue Organoid Models for Safety Assessment
Lung and kidney organoid models validated for pulmonary and nephrotoxicity screening, providing human-relevant safety data beyond animal models.
Challenge
Animal models poorly predict human organ toxicity, leading to late-stage clinical failures. Human-relevant safety models are urgently needed for earlier identification of organ toxicity risks.
Approach
Normal lung and kidney organoid models were established from healthy human tissue. Lung: validated with CC10, KRT5, DAPI (maturation: 21-28 days). Kidney: validated with Nephrin, LTL, DAPI (maturation: 28-35 days). Both validated by mIF, qPCR, and functional assays.
Results:
Both models maintained >30-day stability. Demonstrated dose-dependent toxicity responses to known nephrotoxins and pulmonary toxicants, with good concordance with known human clinical toxicity profiles.
Implication
Provides a human-relevant, organ-specific safety screening platform to identify organ toxicity risks earlier in development, before animal studies or clinical trials.