Enabling a deeper understanding of tissue composition

Minigut Organoid

Green staining represents enterocytes, while red staining represents mesenchymal cells. After the cells have been stained, the Smart-Tip can be used to select and dissociate single cells from the organoid, in order to analyse them. Photo credit: Floriana Burgio.

Single cell profiling provides unprecedented insights into tissue composition and individual cell responses to therapeutics. Yet, the dissociation of small tissues and organoids into single cells suitable for analysis remains challenging, resulting in poor cell quality.

In a project performed with CSEM and EPFL, the Cell Biology and In Vitro Toxicology group from the FHNW School of Life Sciences is developing and testing a new device called “Smart Tip”. Together with optimized protocols, the device will better enable the dissociation of individual, viable single cells from tissue and organoids.

The collaborative project, titled OrganoCell: Standardized individualized organoid dissociation for single cell downstream analysis”, is funded by Innosuisse.

The results look promising and have been presented by Charlotte Fonta (CSEM) at two conferences this year:

• Next Generation Organ-on-Chip and Organoids, February 13-14, 2025, Pratteln
• 10th BioInnovation Day (BIND) on April 1, 2025 at Campus Biotech Geneva

The FHNW’s Cell Biology and In Vitro Toxicology group, represented by Floriana Burgio, Joachim Köser and Michaela Caj, are performing biological validation of the model and device (see graphic on the right of the slide below).