New Modeling for Intestinal Health
Research conducted by Kyla Kaiser, PhD’24, chemical engineering, Jessica Snyder, PhD’23, bioengineering, ChE Associate Professors Ryan Koppes, and Abigail Koppes on “A Pumpless, High-Throughput Microphysiological System To Mimic Enteric Innervation of Duodenal Epithelium and the Impact on Barrier Function” was published in Advanced Functional Materials.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Schuyler Velasco. Main photo: Chemical engineering professors Abigail and Ryan Koppes built a model that mimics how vital neurons operate within the small intestine. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
What a tiny, 3D gut can tell us about gastrointestinal disorders
The relationship between our nervous and digestive systems is a relatively new area of scientific study. But what Northeastern University researcher Abigail Koppes calls the “brain gut” connection has vast implications for our overall health that we’re just beginning to understand.
“It’s a complex network,” says Koppes, an associate professor of chemical engineering. “We know, for example, that people who have autism, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease often have bowel dysfunction. We know that people who have Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis or IBS [irritable bowel syndrome] often co-present with anxiety or depression. Until about 2018, no one had really proven these connections existed.”
Northeastern University chemical engineering professors Abigail and Ryan Koppes pose for a portrait in their lab in the Mugar Life Sciences building on the Boston campus. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
In their lab, Koppes and fellow associate chemical engineering professor Ryan Koppes (her husband) are building tiny, structural models that will help elucidate those connections. In September, the Koppeses, along with PhD students Kyla Kaiser and Jessica Snyder (both now graduates), published a paper in the academic journal Advanced Functional Materials outlining the construction of a 3D model that simulates interactions in the human small intestine. Specifically, their model aims for a closer look at enteric neurons: nerve cells that keep things moving smoothly within the intestinal tract.
The Koppes model, a dozen of which fit on a plastic platform the size of a postcard, is part of a growing body of sophisticated models of organs engineered to study processes within the human body. The most cutting-edge combine synthetic elements with live tissue. The microdevices — called “organs-on-a-chip” — are built to mimic the function and structure of human organs like the heart and lungs. They can be used to study a range of biological processes, from drug delivery in certain parts of the body to disease progression.
“Gut” models are popular targets for development because of the applications for pharmaceutical development: “orally absorbed drugs, nutrients and things like that,” Abby Koppes says.
By adding neurons, the Koppeses’ research takes gut-on-a-chip modeling a step further. “Enteric neurons are critical in maintaining organ homeostasis within the small intestine, and their dysregulation is implicated in gastrointestinal disorders and neurodegenerative diseases,” the paper’s abstract reads. “The addition of neurons is critical for developing more complex and biomimetic organ chip devices, especially as they become the standard for studying developmental biology, drug delivery, and disease progression.”
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