查看文章

The niche surrounding stem cells regulate their fate during homeostasis and after injury or infection. The 3D organoid assay has been widely used to study stem cells behavior based on its capacity to evaluate self-renewal, differentiation and the effect of various medium supplements, drugs and co-culture with supportive cells. We established an assay to study both lung and trachea stem cells in vitro. We characterized their proliferation and differentiation spectrum at baseline then evaluated the effect of co-culturing with fibroblasts and endothelial cells and/or treating with several biologically relevant substances as possible contributors to their niche. We found that lung epithelial (but not tracheal basal) stem cells require co-culture with stromal cells to undergo clonal proliferation and differentiation. Fibroblasts were more efficient than endothelial cells in offering this support and the pattern of support varied based on …