课程大纲

COURSE SYLLABUS

课程代码/名称

Course Code/Title

类器官与生物医学研究

Organoids in Biomedical Research

课程性质

Compulsory/Elective

选修

开课单位

Offering Dept.

医学院药理学系

课程学分/学时

Course Credit/Hours

3/48

授课语言

Teaching Language

英文

授课教师

Instructor(s)

李亮

开课学期

Semester

秋季

是否面向本科生开放

Open to undergraduates

or not

否

先修要求

Pre-requisites

（如面向本科生开放，请注明区分内容。

If the course is open to

undergraduates, please indicate the difference.）

无

10.

教学目标

Course Objectives

（如面向本科生开放，请注明区分内容。 If the course is ope

n to undergraduates, please indicate the

difference.）

本课程将介绍类器官等新型模型的基本特性、构建方法、应用原则，及其在生物医药科研与药物研发中的应用案例解

读。类器官等新型生物医药模型在新冠疫情以来备受瞩目，也在近年来的生物医药研发中进展日新月异，起到越来越

不可忽视的作用。对于这一前沿方向，本课程将提供基本的知识与应用、评价原则介绍，结合实际案例让医学、生命

科学、药学、生物医学工程等学科的学生了解相关基础知识和学科发展。同时，生物医药研发中类器官等模型的应用

是一个关键要素，本课程可为学生的未来科研、工业界职业发展提供良好的助力，也为研究生的科研项目提供新的工

具和研究对象，加深学生对于生理学、病理学、药学等学科的深入理解。

11.

教学方法

Teaching Methods

（如面向本科生开放，请注明区分内容。

If the course is open to undergraduates, please indicate the

difference.）

本课程以课堂教学为主来介绍学科基本知识解读，同时提供实际应用场景探讨以让学生对相关模型的应用前景具备认

知。课程也将针对学科的前沿发展提出相关问题，让学生进行以问题为中心的文献挖掘与小论文总结，从而在应用本

课程所涉基本理论解决问题的过程中加深其对课程内容的理解。

12.

教学内容

Course Contents

（如面向本科生开放，请注明区分内容。 If the course is open to undergraduates, please indicate the

difference.）

Section 1

Introduction: Cells, Animals, Clinical Samples, and Mini-Organs



Overview of the commonly used and novel models in biomedical

research and therapy development

 Introduce the individual characteristics of the different categories of

biomedical models

 Introduce the specific application scenarios of each type of the models

 Compare the pros and cons of each category of the biomedical models

 Organoids as a rising star in biomedical models

 In-cl

ass discussion: When we talk about research models, what are the

main aspects to consider?

Section 2

Basic Principles of Organoids Construction

 Overview of organoids: definition, history, and applications

 Introduction to stem cell biology related to organoids construction

 How to construct organoids, and what they can be used for – an overview

 Common problems encountered in organoids construction

 In-

class discussion: What is the difference between organoids and other

biomedical research models? What are the unique characteristics of

organoids, which cannot be replaced by other models?

Section 3

Development of organoids technology and the theory behind

 Why organoids were developed for biomedical research

 Early-stage research on organoids development

 Organoids and developmental biology

 Main stages of the progress of organoids technology

 Importance of organoids during COVID-

19 pandemic for biomedical

research and therapy development

 In-

class discussion: How developmental biology promoted the technical

advance of organoids construction? What may be the future promoting

factors for organoids technology?

Section 4

Gut Organoids: Stomach, Intestine, and Colon

 A

natomy and physiology of the major sections of the gut: stomach,

intestine, and colon

 How to construct gut organoids, and what have been achieved so far

 Key mechanisms involved in gut organoids differentiation

 A

pplication of gut organoids in biomedical research, with a focus on the

recent COVID-19 research

 Gut organoids and gut microbiota

 In-

class discussion: What key features must be there for successful gut

organoids? What are the requirements for the experimental set-

up to

mimic a real gut micro-environment?

Section 5

Respiratory Organoids: Upper Airway and Lower Airway

 A

natomy and physiology of the major sections of the respiratory system:

upper airway and lower airway

 How to construct respiratory orga

noids, and what have been achieved so

far

 Key mechanisms involved in respiratory organoids differentiation

 Commonly used experimental set-up for respiratory organoids

 A

pplication of respiratory organoids in biomedical research, with a focus

on the recent COVID-19 research

 In-

class discussion: Similarity and difference between gut and respiratory

organoids, from main features to culture conditions.

Section 6

Brain Organoids and Blood Vessel Organoids

 Difficulties encountered in the development of brain or

ganoids:

technological and ethical

 Key mechanisms involved in brain organoids construction

 Application of brain organoids in biomedical research

 Difficulties encountered in the development of blood vessel organoids

 Key mechanisms involved in blood vessel organoids construction

 Application of blood vessel organoids in biomedical research



In-class discussion: Influence of cell sources on organoids construction

Section 7

Introduction to the Research Literature of Organoids

 Summary of a selected literature po

ol of organoids development and

research applications

 How to read the literature – experience with organoids literature



Class discussion on the organoids literature and topic selection for

individual literature analysis report of the students

Section 8

Liver Organoids and Kidney Organoids

 Anatomy and physiology of liver and kidney

 Key mechanisms involved in liver organoids construction

 Progress of liver organoids development using different methods

 Key mechanisms involved in kidney organoids construction

 A

pplication of liver and kidney organoids in biomedical research, with a

focus on the recent COVID-19 research

 In-

class discussion: What is a good representation of the target organs

when the organ itself is complicated?

Section 9

Tumour Organoids

 Intr

oduction of the various categories of tumour organoids in research

and biomedical industry

 Application of tumour organoids in cancer research and treatment

 Tumour organoids and precision medicine

 2-D, 3-D, spherical and other shapes: how would the geometry

affect the

application of the organoids?

 Drug sensitivity assays using tumour organoids for precision medicine

 In-

class discussion: What aspects of tumour biology can benefit from

organoids technology?

Section 10

Application of Organoids in Drug Development

 Introduction to the pipeline of drug development

 Organoids as a drug screening platform

 Organoids and Phase I clinical trial

 Organoids and Phase II clinical trial

 Organoids and precision medicine

 Limitations of current technologies in organoids construction and

application

 Class discussion and project assignment: application of organoids in

postgraduate biomedical research project

Section 11

Organoids on a Chip and Others – Innovations with Engineering

 Why engineering innovations are needed for organoids development

 Tissue, immune cells, and microbiota, the missing links in organoids

construction

 Tissue engineering and organoids construction

 Microfluid chips, 3-D printing, and hydrogels for organoids construction

 Organoids on a chip

 Combining organoids of different sources and with other models

Section 12

Application of Organoids in a Biomedical Research Project

 Application of organoids in a research project – when, what, and how

 Typical scenarios of organoids application in a biomedical research

project

 Basic requirements of organoids platform set-up in a biomedical lab

 Experience with organoids application in biomedical research projects

 Brain storm of organoids application in a biomedical lab scenario

 In-class discussion on the essay writing plans

Section 13

Organoids and Other Models Part I

 Comparison of organoids and primary cells

 Comparison of organoids and clinical samples

 Application of organoids and cell-based models in biomedical research

and drug development

 Combining organoids with primary cells

 Organ-on-a-chip and Lab-on-a-chip: the future?

 In-class discussion: The next generation of cell culture

Section 14

Organoids and Other Models Part II

 Comparison of organoids and animal models

 Introduction of animal models for various research areas

 Organoids vs. humanized mouse model: different application scenarios

 Tumour organoids and patient-derived xenograft animal models

 Combining organoids with animal models

 In-class discussion: From organoids culture to organ transplant – what

are the remaining steps

Section 15

Organoids and Other Models Part III

 Introduction of other biomedical models

 Comparison of organoids with other biomedical models

 Combing the strengths of organoids with other biomedical models

 Organoids for animals

 Innovations for organoids: science and engineering

 In-class discussion: how shall we construct a “perfect” biomedical

model by combing organoids and other biomedical models

Section 16

Summary of the course, future directions of organoids technology,

and feedback

 Course summary: concepts, classifications, and main theory

 Course summary: criteria of successful organoids for different types

of organs

 Course summary: applications of organoids in biomedical research

and drug development

 Course summary: limitations in current organoids development

 Discuss on the future directions of organoids technology

 Feedback on the course content

13.

课程考核

Course Assessment

（

○

1 考核形式 Form of examination；

○

2 .分数构成 grading policy；

○

3 如面向本科生开放，请注明区分内容。

If the course is open to undergraduates, please indicate the difference.）

考核形式：考查

分数构成：课堂表现 10%，小论文 30%，文献分析报告 30%，课堂测验 30%（共一次）。

14.

教材及其它参考资料

Textbook and Supplementary Readings

 Organoids and Mini-Organs, ed.1 by Jamie Davies; Melanie Lawrence

; ISBN: 9780128126363;

Academic Press, 2018

 Organoids: Stem Cells, Structure, and Function, ed.1 by Kursad Turksen; ISBN: 9781493

976171;

Humana Press, 2019