Got Guts: Plasticity of Human Barrett’s Organoids

In our latest podcast senior author Dr. Rhonda Souza discusses her latest published research “A Human Barrett's Esophagus Organoid System Reveals Epithelial-Mesenchymal Plasticity Induced by Acid and Bile Salts” with Editor-in-Chief Prof. Mark Frey. Using Barrett's esophagus (BE) biopsies, the authors established organoids recapitulating key BE features. During early stages of organoid development, a GERD-like wound environment induced features of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) in Barrett's progenitor cells, suggesting that reflux-induced EMP can enable Barrett's cells to migrate underneath squamous epithelium to form subsquamous intestinal metaplasia, a condition that may underlie Barrett's cancers that escape detection by endoscopic surveillance, and recurrences of Barrett's metaplasia following endoscopic eradication therapy.

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