Submitted by: Jong-Keun Sim

Category: Microscopy

Contributors: Leandra Suter and Estelle Park

Creation: The human assembloids-on-a-chip platform combines stem cell biology with microengineering to generate complex intestinal tissue structures in vitro. By guiding the fusion of multiple human intestinal organoids and exposing them to controlled soluble gradients, the system promotes the emergence of budding morphologies that closely mimic the crypt–villus architecture of the intestine. This innovation allows researchers to model spatial organization and signaling dynamics of the tissue with unprecedented precision, advancing studies in development, disease modeling, and drug discovery.

Caption: A confocal micrograph of a human gut assembloid formed within a microengineered chip. At the base, fluorescently labeled microchannels in red and green highlight the device structure. Above, the fused intestinal organoids form a large budding tissue that mimics the crypt–villus structure, stained with phalloidin (magenta, actin cytoskeleton) and DAPI (green, nuclei). The image resembles a blooming flower, visually capturing how engineered platforms can recreate the budding architecture of the intestine in vitro. Gut assemblage size: 1747 μm. Device dimensions: 25 mm (width) × 32 mm (length) × 9.6 mm (height).