Cantz T.: hepatocellular or cholangiocellular organoids

Today we are talking to Prof. Dr. Tobias Cantz, of Hanover / Hannover, Germany, on a topic that offers the chance to re-work many approaches to both acquired and inborn disease not just of the liver but also of the biliary tree. Prof. Cantz is a regenerative hepatologist, conducting research into how hepatocellular or cholangiocellular organoids – or, more complexly, organoids that include all the components of the differentiated and polarised and vascularised hepatic lobule – can be used to examine and to dissect how gene variants contribute to clinical disease, and how administration of organoids can contribute to repair of hepatobiliary injury. His presentation in Vienna this May, at the annual meeting of ESPGHAN, was a wonder ; the things that can be done already using these “organoids”, these miniature versions of components of an organ, are mind-boggling, and the feats to date really are only the start of what Prof. Cantz envisions. Perhaps his intensity, his devotion, and his determination to take our field forward can be appreciated, at least in part, in this conversation. Not easy listening, better suited for a quarter-hour in a lay-by during which you can concentrate on the abundance of information that he presents than for dodging delivery- van traffic – well, if you have to get to work, then listen to it not just on the way in but also again on the way home, to be sure you grasp it all.

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