Scientists grow human fallopian tubes in the lab

Scientists could soon explore the reproductive organ of women in the lab without requiring a living patient as German researchers have successfully grown human fallopian tubes that act as a natural organ. Researchers believe the organoids could significantly help experts study how reproductive cancer develops in women and provide new treatments.

Fallopian tubes are important in the female reproductive system as they connect the ovaries to the uterus, and allows successful reproduction. But previous research shows fallopian tubes could also put women at risk of cancer.

Cells in fallopian tubes were found to be vulnerable to infections that can spread to ovaries, which may lead to the development of deadly ovarian cancer. Providing early intervention has been a challenge for health experts as doctors have only limited ways to examine women’s fallopian tubes.

Diseases that occur in fallopian tubes are commonly not diagnosed until they turn into advanced condition, which already is too late for successful treatment. This led scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin to aim on growing the mucous membrane epithelium that forms the inside of fallopian tubes.

For the experiment, described in the journal Nature Communications, researchers used fallopian epithelial cells with stem cell-like properties from tissue donors, and replicated the environmental conditions in the human body in the laboratory to allow the cells to grow and form into more complex structures.

The lab-grown structures or organoids were found to have the anatomy, structure and biochemical processes very similar to those present in real fallopian tubes. “The artificial models consist of stem cells, as well as ciliated cells and secretory cells, all of which are arranged in the same way as in natural fallopian tubes,” said researcher Mirjana Kessler.

The researchers also found two signalling pathways, known as Notch and Wnt, present in the organoids, which allow the cells to respond to external signals and regenerate the organs. The mini fallopian tubes have been kept alive in the lab for more than a year, which is a better result than other artificial organs that could only last for a few days.

The researchers hope the lab-grown fallopian tubes could help provide fresh insights into the mechanisms of reproduction and cancer development in the fallopian tubes. "With the help of our model we can now focus on determining whether cancer can be triggered by infections of the human fallopian tubes," said lead researcher Thomas Meyer, director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology.