HCA Organoid SIGNED

Project "HCA Organoid" data sheet

The following table provides information about the project.

 Partnership

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 Project objective

'Excellence: The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) is descriptive by definition, as it seeks to map all cells in the human body. Yet its goal of “understanding fundamental human biological processes and diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease” (HCA Whitepaper) depends on our ability to draw functional/causal/mechanistic conclusions relevant to human diseases. Personalized organoid technology aptly fills this gap, as it makes human tissue amenable to functional studies and faithful disease modeling in vitro.

This project will firmly establish a 'Human Organoid Atlas' within the HCA. Initially focusing on two organs (colon and brain: 100 persons each) additional organs will be included as pilot studies with organoids derived from up to 20 individuals in total. It is, for example, envisioned that pancreas organoids will be included in collaboration with Human Cell Atlas affiliated projects that focus on the single-cell dissection of the human pancreas. We will establish single-cell transcriptomes, single-cell epigenomes, and time-series imaging for several thousand organoids and matched primary tissue. This resource will quantify normal population variation and provide a baseline for disease studies. We will show its practical utility by proof-of-concept disease modeling for genetic epilepsy (brain) and large-scale characterization of disease-linked genetic variants (colon).

Impact: 1. Deeply characterized organoid collection enables functional and disease-centric studies pursuing HCA insights. 2. Single-cell dataset provides reference of population variation under highly standardized conditions. 3. Linking single-cell profiling and organoids will boost HCA’s impact on human health.

Implementation: The project connects the European founders of organoid research (Hans Clevers, Jürgen Knoblich) with expertise in large-scale epigenome/transcriptome profiling (Christoph Bock, Henk Stunnenberg), advanced imaging (Prisca Liberali, Anne Rios), bioinformatics and systems genetics (Oliver Stegle, Michael Boutros), data management (Laura Clarke/EBI), and strong SME contribution (Hubrecht Organoid Technology, Eurice). The project is fully committed to the HCA's values. It implements extensive data sharing and sustainability measures.'