Lab-grown human gut tissues to help fight intestinal infections
Enteroid Core
This program helps scientists grow mini human intestines in the lab to understand how bacteria cause intestinal infections in adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Maryland Baltimore NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11133019 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
They grow miniature human intestinal tissues called enteroids and colonoids from donated adult intestinal samples and maintain them in lab-friendly conditions. The core supplies these cultures, growth media, training, and protocols to multiple labs so they can model how enteric bacteria interact with the human gut. They also develop co-cultures that combine these gut cells with primary human immune cells and use genetic methods like lentiviral knockdown to test specific genes' roles. From a patient's perspective, this means findings are based on human-derived models rather than animal-only work, which can make laboratory results more relevant to people.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults (21+) who are undergoing intestinal biopsy or surgery or who can donate tissue samples to affiliated biobanks would be the types of people who could contribute samples to this work.
Not a fit: Children and people with non-intestinal health issues are unlikely to be asked to participate or directly benefit from this program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could speed up development of better treatments, vaccines, and diagnostics for bacterial gut infections by providing more realistic human tissue models.
How similar studies have performed: Organoid and enteroid systems have been successfully used to model human gut infections and host responses in prior studies, though human immune co-cultures and gene-manipulation approaches are still being refined.
Where this research is happening
Baltimore, United States
- University of Maryland Baltimore — Baltimore, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zachos, Nicholas Constantine — University of Maryland Baltimore
- Study coordinator: Zachos, Nicholas Constantine
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.