Modelling the colorectal cancer immune microenvironment using air-liquid interface organoids for personalised...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with treatment resistance posing a persistent clinical challenge. Patient-derived organoids (PDO) offer a promising platform for modelling tumour biology and therapeutic responses; however, conventional Matrigel-based PDO lack the immune contexture necessary to capture the full complexity of the tumour microenvironment (TME). In this study, we performed a second model, known as air-liquid interface patient-derived organoids (ALI-PDO), that preserves infiltrating immune cells, evaluating its relative advantages over the classical Matrigel culture in modelling CRC.

In this study, we present a comparative analysis of 2 organoid systems-Matrigel-PDO and air-liquid interface PDO (ALI-PDO)-generated from CRC surgical biopsies obtained from 5 patients.

Both models recapitulated key histopathological and proliferative features of the original tumours; however, only ALI-PDO preserved native immune infiltrates, including CD45⁺, CD3⁺, and CD68⁺ cells. Functional assays demonstrated that ALI-PDO allowed for the investigation of drug-induced immune dynamics, revealing selective sensitivity of immune cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment. In contrast, Matrigel-PDO, composed solely of neoplastic epithelial cells, failed to reflect these interactions.

Our findings establish ALI-PDO as an advanced preclinical model that more accurately mirrors the immunological and architectural complexity of CRC. This system offers a valuable tool for evaluating immunomodulatory therapies and guiding personalised treatment strategies. Future studies should expand the application of ALI-PDO to immunotherapy and incorporate additional components of the TME to further enhance translational relevance.