Organ Culture

Organ Culture - In vitro culture and growth of organs or parts thereof, where their various tissue components, such as parenchyma and stroma, preserved both in terms of their structure and function, so that the formed bodies resemble closely those organs in vivo is called organ culture.

In such cultures, a new growth through differentiated structures such as glandular structures in the event of glands, small bronchi in cases of lung tissue, etc., in tissue lined with one or the other type epithelium, the epithelium to differentiate into a pattern similar to that in these organs in vivo. 

The cultured organs retain their physiological functions such as hormone-dependent organs remain hormone dependent and hormone-disrupting organ go on a secret specific hormones. 

Moreover morphogenesis in cultured fetal tissue more or less comparable with that in vivo. In the case of organ cultures, which grew out of isolated cells from the periphery of explants minimized by manipulating the culture conditions. 

Organ Culture Techniques 

The first attempt at organ culture was by Loeb in 1897, who maintained adult rabbit liver, kidney, thyroid and ovaries on small plasma clots in vitro and observed that these bodies have retained their normal histological features in 3 days. Later in 1919, Loeb and Fleischer reported that the culture tubes should be filled with O2 to prevent central

necrosis of the explants. 

A technique, organ culture has since been significantly improved and it can use one of the following 5 strategies (for details of protocols see, Freshney 1987, 1992). 

Advantages of Organ Culture 

1. The explants remain comparable to in vivo organs, both in structure and function that makes them more suitable than cell cultures for physiological studies. 

2. The development of fetal organs in vitro is comparable to in vivo. Hormone-dependent organs continues, while the endocrine organs secrete certain hormones

 3. Therefore, organ cultures provide information on the patterns of growth, differentiation and development, and on the influences of various factors on these functions. 

4. In some cases replace organ cultures of whole animals in experiments, since the results from them are easier to interpret. 

The results obtained with organ cultures usually give an idea of the in vivo events, often significantly reduced number of experiments is necessary in whole animals to study a specific problem. 

Limitations on Organ Culture 

1. Results from organ cultures are often not comparable with those from whole animal studies, eg in studies of drug action, since the drugs are metabolized in vivo but not in vitro. 

2. Organ cultures can be maintained only for a few months. But it may be desirable to investigate the effect of a number of factors in several months. In such cases, bodies in vitro can be transplanted into suitable host animal, for example, nude mice. 

Applications of Organ Culture 

1. Studies on patterns of growth, differentiation and development of organ rudiments, ie fetal organs, and the influences of various factors such as hormones, vitamins, etc, on these parameters. 

2. The efficacy of drugs, carcinogens, etc. in the animal organs were studied in vitro at least serve as a guide to the events in whole animals. 

3. Perhaps the most dramatic use of organ cultures to produce tissue for implantation into patients, and this is often called tissue engineering. 

 Human skin has been produced in vitro and used for transplantation in more than 500 cases of serious burns, wounds, etc., to the ultimate goal of tissue engineering reconstruct

body parts in vitro 

(1) for use as a wine or transplants and 

(2) To be used as models for studies of drug delivery and action. 

It is expected that cartilage tissue developed in vitro (artificial cartilage) will be available for human implantation in cases of injury, arthritis, etc. results in rabbits have been encouraging. It is hoped that these studies will allow the cultivation and the Constitution of the bones, liver, pancreas, etc.