Monitoring Circadian Oscillations with a Bioluminescence Reporter in Organoids

Most living organisms possess circadian rhythms, which are biological processes that occur within a period of approximately 24 h and regulate a diverse repertoire of cellular and physiological processes ranging from sleep-wake cycles to metabolism. This clock mechanism entrains the organism based on environmental changes and coordinates the temporal regulation of molecular and physiological events. Previously, it was demonstrated that autonomous circadian rhythms are maintained even at the single-cell level using cell lines such as NIH3T3 fibroblasts, which were instrumental in uncovering the mechanisms of circadian rhythms. However, these cell lines are homogeneous cultures lacking multicellularity and robust intercellular communications. In the past decade, extensive work has been performed on the development, characterization, and application of 3D organoids, which are in vitro multicellular systems that resemble in vivo morphological structures and functions. This paper describes a protocol for detecting circadian rhythms using a bioluminescent reporter in human intestinal enteroids, which enables the investigation of circadian rhythms in multicellular systems in vitro.