Induction of alveolar and bronchiolar phenotypes in human lung organoids

Patient-derived organoids have revolutionized biomedical research and therapies by "transferring the patient into the Petri dish". In vitro access to human lung organoids representing distal lung tissue, i.e. alveolar organoids, would facilitate research pertaining to a wide range of medical conditions and might open for a future approach to individualized treatment.We propose a protocol to derive a single human lung biopsy towards both alveolar and bronchiolar organoids. By modulating Wnt pathway, we obtained a differential gene expression of the main markers for both subtypes, such as a higher expression of surfactant protein C in alveolar organoids or a higher expression of mucine 5AC in bronchiolar organoids. Although the specific cell enrichment was not complete, the differentiation was observed as early as passage 1 based on morphology, and confirmed by QPCR and histology at passage 2. These results are consistent with a functional specification of lung epithelium towards both alveoli- and bronchi-enriched organoids from first passages.