Research Highlights
Dynamic VitroGel® Culture Promotes the Development of Insulin-Producing Taste Organoids
VitroGel® empowers dynamic 3D organoid growth, revealing taste biology and beyond.
Category:
Organoids
Subcategory:
Different types of organoids
Cell Type:
Pig foliate taste papillae
Hydrogel:
VitroGel® Hydrogel Matrix (VHM01)
Team:
Hasitha U Premathilake, Caio H Mazucanti, Qin Yao, Jennifer F. O’Connell, NanditaVegesna, Dimitrios Tsitsipatis, Cory Weller, Kwan-Wood Gabriel Lam, Julián Candia, Jinshui Fan, Supriyo De, Payel Sen, Josephine M Egan, Máire E Doyle
Institution:
National Institute on Aging, NIH
Studying taste receptor cell biology is challenging due to their complex structure, short lifespan, and limited survival in vitro. Traditional static cultures often fail to maintain mature cell types and functional activity. In this study, researchers used VitroGel® Hydrogel Matrix within the ClinoStar® dynamic clinoreactor to create a supportive, xeno-free 3D microenvironment that preserved cellular diversity and promoted differentiation. Organoids were efficiently retrieved for downstream assays using VitroGel® Organoid Recovery Solution, ensuring gentle hydrogel dissolution without compromising cell viability or function.
Dynamic VitroGel® cultures shifted stem cell profiles from LGR4 dominance to increased LGR6 expression and upregulated mature taste receptor markers GNAT3, TRPM5, and OTOP1. This environment enabled the development of CK20+ taste receptor cells co-expressing insulin and transcription factors PAX4 and MAFA, leading to the secretion of biologically active insulin.
VitroGel® provided a physiologically relevant scaffold that supported long-term, functional growth of taste organoids. At the same time, the Recovery Solution enabled easy harvesting of intact structures for further analysis — together, enabling novel insights into taste cell biology and extra-pancreatic insulin production. From taste buds to insulin, VitroGel® helped organoids achieve the unexpected.
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