With the emergence of technologies to culture intestinal epithelial cells in vitro as various forms of intestinal organoids, there is growing interest in using such cultured intestinal cells as a source for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. One such approach would be to combine the organoid technology with methodologies to engineer the culture environment, particularly the three-dim...

A large surface area and continuous exposure to the outside environment through food intake make the intestines an ideal location for the growth and/or entry of pathogenic microorganisms and parasites. It is therefore not surprising that large numbers of lymphocytes are associated with the intestines within specialized gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT) and in the intestines themselves (1)....