About this Research Topic
For virus research, human model systems are needed together with cell cultures and animal models. Human model systems include cellular components that allow for studies that increase our understanding of the mechanisms of human disease and the subsequent design of novel treatments or preventive strategies. Viruses may use receptors or pathways for infection and replication, which may not be present in animal models or immortalized cell lines; hence, we need new models that recapitulate these complex physiological processes.
Animal models do not always adequately recapitulate human disease pathology and they sometimes do not completely translate to the human environment. Immortalized cell lines entail intrinsic mutations, and thus do not recapitulate the homeostatic functions of a human cell. Further, cell lines lack physiological organ complexity. To overcome these factors, human organoids can be used as a valuable complementary alternative method to study human model systems in virology research and antiviral testing.
Human organoids are self-organized, 3D cultures derived from human stem cells. With the use of these models, virus-infected human organoids have the potential to provide a more accurate picture of what human host factors are essential for infection and enlighten various pathways of disease. Human organoids can be useful as one of the alternative methods to study human model systems in virology research and antiviral testing.
By providing a natural host environment, human organoids can be also used to isolate viruses directly from human infected materials (such as nasopharyngeal swabs, cerebrospinal fluid, feces, and blood) and grow them under conditions where they retain their original profiles and infection behaviors seen in the clinics, allowing for accurate studies on tropism, receptor usage, host immune responses, potentially without any bias of laboratory cell adaptation.
With the use of human-derived organoids from varying ages, gender, or genetic background, the effects of these factors on the mechanism of viral infection in organoids may be studied accurately from a different angle. It is indeed imperative to identify such factors to understand why some individuals only experience mild viral disease after a specific viral infection while others fall severely ill or even die.
Virus-infected human organoids may be used to reflect upon clinical observations. For example, severe neurological complications such as microcephaly are observed in children born with a Zika virus infection. Zika virus infections can reduce the size of human brain organoids, mimicking the microcephaly seen in affected children. Studies on the routes of infection, neurotropism, neurovirulence, and related effects in iPSC-derived human brain organoids for other viral infections are now underway.
In this Frontiers Research Topic, we will focus in-depth on the use of iPSC-derived brain organoids for neurotropic viral research and human gut organoid technology to study human viral enteric infections. All article types are welcome.
Animal models do not always adequately recapitulate human disease pathology and they sometimes do not completely translate to the human environment. Immortalized cell lines entail intrinsic mutations, and thus do not recapitulate the homeostatic functions of a human cell. Further, cell lines lack physiological organ complexity. To overcome these factors, human organoids can be used as a valuable complementary alternative method to study human model systems in virology research and antiviral testing.
Human organoids are self-organized, 3D cultures derived from human stem cells. With the use of these models, virus-infected human organoids have the potential to provide a more accurate picture of what human host factors are essential for infection and enlighten various pathways of disease. Human organoids can be useful as one of the alternative methods to study human model systems in virology research and antiviral testing.
By providing a natural host environment, human organoids can be also used to isolate viruses directly from human infected materials (such as nasopharyngeal swabs, cerebrospinal fluid, feces, and blood) and grow them under conditions where they retain their original profiles and infection behaviors seen in the clinics, allowing for accurate studies on tropism, receptor usage, host immune responses, potentially without any bias of laboratory cell adaptation.
With the use of human-derived organoids from varying ages, gender, or genetic background, the effects of these factors on the mechanism of viral infection in organoids may be studied accurately from a different angle. It is indeed imperative to identify such factors to understand why some individuals only experience mild viral disease after a specific viral infection while others fall severely ill or even die.
Virus-infected human organoids may be used to reflect upon clinical observations. For example, severe neurological complications such as microcephaly are observed in children born with a Zika virus infection. Zika virus infections can reduce the size of human brain organoids, mimicking the microcephaly seen in affected children. Studies on the routes of infection, neurotropism, neurovirulence, and related effects in iPSC-derived human brain organoids for other viral infections are now underway.
In this Frontiers Research Topic, we will focus in-depth on the use of iPSC-derived brain organoids for neurotropic viral research and human gut organoid technology to study human viral enteric infections. All article types are welcome.
Keywords: human organoid models, virus research, human organoids, iPSC derived brain organoids, human gut organoid
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