APPLICATION NOTE
Understanding organoid morphology using 3D image analysis
This study assesses patient-derived organoid size and cell count from 3D image analysis.
Patient-derived Organoids are the drug discovery platform of the future because of their greater physiological and clinical relevance as compared to existing 2D models used in screening. Importantly, this work demonstrates the principle that morphological parameters can be assessed and quantified in a high-throughput format.
Once key morphometric signatures for clinical efficacy have been defined, 3D imaging has the potential to revolutionize drug discovery, leading to the early selection of hit compounds that will progress through to the clinic. Assays for changes in organoid morphology following drug-treatment have the potential to identify treatments targeted to specific cell-types such as cancer stem cells, that would be missed in the metabolic assays used currently, since there is no bulk cell-killing effect.
