Review articleOrganoids from adult liver and pancreas: Stem cell biology and biomedical utility

- Adult primary cells from the liver and pancreas can be cultured as 3D organoids.
- Organoids provide additional ways to study adult stem cell biology in these tissues.
- Organoid technology has many promising biomedical uses, e.g. disease modelling.

The liver and pancreas are critical organs maintaining whole body metabolism. Historically, the expansion of adult-derived cells from these organs in vitro has proven challenging and this in turn has hampered studies of liver and pancreas stem cell biology, as well as being a roadblock to disease modelling and cell replacement therapies for pathologies in these organs. Recently, defined culture conditions have been described which allow the in vitro culture and manipulation of adult-derived liver and pancreatic material. Here we review these systems and assess their physiological relevance, as well as their potential utility in biomedicine.