An Integrated Human Enteroid Model of EED

Honorine Ward of Tufts Medical Center with Mary Estes at Baylor College of Medicine in the U.S. and Gagandeep Kang at Christian Medical College in India will develop a three dimensional cell culture model (enteroid) of the human intestine to study environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), which is associated with substantial morbidity in young children in the developing world. They will grow enteroids from isolated intestinal crypts derived from unused surgical samples from children with and without EED in India. They will study the structure and function of these enteroids and their value as a model of EED by analyzing biomarkers in associated blood and stool samples. Once validated, they will supplement the model with immune cells and gut microbes that they will co-isolate from the same individuals to develop a 'mini-gut' model that more closely mimics the human disease, which can be used to develop and evaluate targeted therapies.