Transcriptome analysis of intestinal organoids from Rhesus macaque

Cells in the gastrointestinal tract exert multiple functions to maintain homeostasis of the body. Although we have been using rodent tissues as a human gut model, recent studies have shown that the chemical sensing system of rodents is different from that of human due to differences in eating habits. We have generated intestinal organoids for the first time from rhesus monkey. The organoids we generated could be maintained for more than six months. Using organoid we have generated, we examined whether we could change cell status by changing the cell culture condition. Upon reduction of Wnt and factors for cell proliferation, we observed a drastic change in the number of marker proteins for differentiated cell-types. We also observed differentiation of chemosensory cells by exogenously adding interleukin (IL)-4 or the Notch signaling inhibitor dibenzazepine (DBZ). These switches of proliferation/differentiation were confirmed by RNA-Seq analysis.