Yonsei University · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Professor Hyun Jung Kim's research lab specializes in developing advanced microfluidic organ-on-a-chip platforms to model human intestinal physiology and host-microbiome interactions with high physiological relevance. The lab focuses on creating biomimetic gut-on-a-chip systems that replicate mechanical forces like peristalsis, fluid flow, and the critical anoxic-oxic interface found in the human colon, enabling long-term coculture of human intestinal epithelial cells with commensal and pathogenic microbes. Their work emphasizes the dynamic interplay between host cells, the gut microbiome, and physical microenvironments to study disease mechanisms, drug responses, and microbial community stability.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Development of an in vitro living cell-based model of the intestine that mimics the mechanical, structural, absorptive, transport and pathophysiological properties of the human gut along with its crucial microbial symbionts could accelerate pharmaceutical development, and potentially replace animal testing. Here, we describe a biomimetic 'human gut-on-a-chip' microdevice composed of two microfluidic channels separated by a porous flexible membrane coated with extracellular matrix (ECM) and lined
A human gut-on-a-chip microdevice was used to coculture multiple commensal microbes in contact with living human intestinal epithelial cells for more than a week in vitro and to analyze how gut microbiome, inflammatory cells, and peristalsis-associated mechanical deformations independently contribute to intestinal bacterial overgrowth and inflammation. This in vitro model replicated results from past animal and human studies, including demonstration that probiotic and antibiotic therapies can su
Existing in vitro models of human intestinal function commonly rely on use of established epithelial cell lines, such as Caco-2 cells, which form polarized epithelial monolayers but fail to mimic more complex intestinal functions that are required for drug development and disease research. We show here that a microfluidic 'Gut-on-a-Chip' technology that exposes cultured cells to physiological peristalsis-like motions and liquid flow can be used to induce human Caco-2 cells to spontaneously under
Microfluidic organ-on-a-chip models of human intestine have been developed and used to study intestinal physiology and pathophysiology. In this article, we review this field and describe how microfluidic Intestine Chips offer new capabilities not possible with conventional culture systems or organoid cultures, including the ability to analyze contributions of individual cellular, chemical, and physical control parameters one-at-a-time; to coculture human intestinal cells with commensal microbiom
This paper shows that for microbial communities, "fences make good neighbors." Communities of soil microorganisms perform critical functions: controlling climate, enhancing crop production, and remediation of environmental contamination. Microbial communities in the oral cavity and the gut are of high biomedical interest. Understanding and harnessing the function of these communities is difficult: artificial microbial communities in the laboratory become unstable because of "winner-takes-all" co
The majority of human gut microbiome is comprised of obligate anaerobic bacteria that exert essential metabolic functions in the human colon. These anaerobic gut bacteria constantly crosstalk with the colonic epithelium in a mucosal anoxic-oxic interface (AOI). However, <i>in vitro</i> recreation of the metabolically mismatched colonic AOI has been technically challenging. Furthermore, stable co-culture of the obligate anaerobic commensal microbiome and epithelial cells in a mechanically dynamic
Memory deficit is one of the most frequent cognitive complications encountered after brain injury. It is recognized as difficult to treat. Over the past decades, various strategies of memory remediation have been used. Among them, prosthetic devices, such as notebooks and alarms, have shown some benefit. This study describes the case of a 22-year-old man who demonstrated deficits in memory and executive function. In an in-patient rehabilitation setting, a microcomputer was introduced as an exter
The regeneration of the mucosal interface of the human intestine is critical in the host-gut microbiome crosstalk associated with gastrointestinal diseases. The biopsy-derived intestinal organoids provide genetic information of patients with physiological cytodifferentiation. However, the enclosed lumen and static culture condition substantially limit the utility of patient-derived organoids for microbiome-associated disease modeling. Here, we report a patient-specific three-dimensional (3D) phy
Recent advances in canine intestinal organoids have expanded the option for building a better in vitro model to investigate translational science of intestinal physiology and pathology between humans and animals. However, the three-dimensional geometry and the enclosed lumen of canine intestinal organoids considerably hinder the access to the apical side of epithelium for investigating the nutrient and drug absorption, host-microbiome crosstalk, and pharmaceutical toxicity testing. Thus, the cre
In a conventional culture of three-dimensional human intestinal organoids, extracellular matrix hydrogel has been used to provide a physical space for the growth and morphogenesis of organoids in the presence of exogenous morphogens such as Wnt3a. We found that organoids embedded in a dome-shaped hydrogel show significant size heterogeneity in different locations inside the hydrogel. Computational simulations revealed that the instability and diffusion limitation of Wnt3a constitutively generate
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