Paraffin Embedding and Histological Staining of Intestinal Organoids.

Abstract

Organoids have emerged as a powerful in vitro model system for biomedical research, providing a physiologically relevant alternative to traditional cell lines. Intestinal organoids recapitulate the complex cellular composition and function of the intestinal epithelium, making them valuable for studying intestinal biology and disease. These three-dimensional (3D) cultures can be differentiated to contain all the major intestinal cell types-including enterocytes, Paneth cells, goblet cells, stem cells, enteroendocrine cells, and tuft cells-allowing for more accurate modeling of intestinal function. However, their 3D structure presents challenges for high-resolution imaging and histological analysis. Common methods for embedding intestinal organoids, such as frozen sectioning or pre-embedding in semi-solid gels, can compromise morphology and sectioning integrity. To address these limitations, we present an optimized paraffin-embedding protocol that provides robust immunofluorescent staining and imaging of intestinal organoids while preserving cellular architecture. This approach provides researchers with an improved tool for analyzing organoid-based models of intestinal function and disease.