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Interviews & Discussions
Educational content from recorded physician discussions — not medical advice. Always talk to your child's care team about your child's situation.
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Vascular growth with nerves is important for tissue engineering of the esophagus, requiring both vascular and nervous components. — Michael Helmrath, QUAD #14 Future in Bioengineering Solutions with Dr. Michael Helmrath · 3:40
QUAD #14 Future in Bioengineering Solutions with Dr. Michael Helmrath
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In this video, we explore groundbreaking research from Dr. Helmrath and his team at Cincinnati Children's CuSTOM lab, where they are developing methods to grow entire human gastrointestinal (GI) tracts from stem cells. These innovative tech
video · Aug 2024
Growing functional intestinal tissue from stem cells with Dr. Michael Helmrath
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In this video, we explore groundbreaking research from Dr. Helmrath and his team at Cincinnati Children
podcast8:32 · Nov 2026
April 29, 2025 with Michael A. Helmrath, MD
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"Translating Intestinal HIO" with Michael A. Helmrath, MD; Professor of Clinical-Affiliate; Director of Surgical Research; Director of Intestinal Rehabilitation Center; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
video · Nov 2026
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QUAD #14 Future in Bioengineering Solutions with Dr. Michael Helmrath
The lab has developed methods to grow from a single stem cell drawn from the blood the entire GI tract from the mouth to the anus.
clinicalMichael Helmrath0:47 ↗
The first bowel made roughly 11 years ago was small bowel, which was able to be transplanted into the animal.
clinicalMichael Helmrath1:30 ↗
Colon transplants into animals but not as well as small bowel, and the antral structures, esophagus and stomach did not and do not readily transplant into the animal.
clinicalMichael Helmrath1:50 ↗
When a single organoid is grown in a dish for roughly a month and put into an animal, it is fully laminated and looks no different than a biopsy.
clinicalMichael Helmrath2:10 ↗
The transplanted organoid represents the patient from whom the stem cells were derived.
clinicalMichael Helmrath2:40 ↗
Nerves are not present in the initial grafts, which are just mesenchyme and endoderm, but nerves can be added by adding to the dish.
clinicalMichael Helmrath2:50 ↗
When nerves are present in transplanted grafts, they cause the ingrowth of vasculature that is human, with endothelial progenitors in the graft responding to nerve signals.
clinicalMichael Helmrath3:10 ↗
Vascular growth with nerves is important for tissue engineering of the esophagus, requiring both vascular and nervous components.
opinionMichael Helmrath3:40 ↗
Growing cells in a confined space to make a long tube resulted in nerves being co-developed by progenitors within the typical HIO without adding neurospheres externally.
clinicalMichael Helmrath4:00 ↗
Nerves formed in confined space culture are very similar to human controls.
clinicalMichael Helmrath4:40 ↗
Peristalsis starts in the cells of Cajal in the mesenchyme and is then affected and modulated by the nerve.
clinicalMichael Helmrath4:55 ↗
The grafts demonstrate regular peristalsis that can be externally stimulated, and nerve function can be blocked with TTX.
clinicalMichael Helmrath5:10 ↗
Relaxation of the grafts can be blocked by L-NAME.
clinicalMichael Helmrath5:30 ↗
The lab can separate HIO into endoderm (epithelium, the inside) and mesenchyme (the outside), recombine them, and the result is fully faithful to the original.
clinicalMichael Helmrath5:50 ↗
The mesenchyme from HIO can be combined with other endoderms, including colon endoderm.
clinicalMichael Helmrath6:20 ↗
In a rat model where bowel was damaged with hot EDTA and a brush, HIO fragments were placed inside the lumen, with somatic stem cells (epithelial only) as controls.
clinicalMichael Helmrath7:00 ↗
At seven days after transplantation, control cells showed minimal engraftment, while IPS-generated fragments showed both epithelial and mesenchymal engraftment with cells migrating and proliferating beyond the confined space.
clinicalMichael Helmrath7:30 ↗
At 10 weeks after transplantation, nearly the entire epithelium was human, with muscle cells aligned with existing rat cells and fully functional.
clinicalMichael Helmrath7:55 ↗
Cincinnati Children's was awarded funding for Organoid Cure to compile data for growing human intestine for patient transplantation and obtain FDA approval.
clinicalMichael Helmrath8:15 ↗
The team has developed a hydrogel that polymerizes when exposed to UV light, acting like glue to hold tissue in place without killing cells, allowing cells to migrate out.
clinicalMichael Helmrath8:40 ↗
The first clinical step is tissue agnostic, with intestinal transplants serving as a tool to gather information.
opinionMichael Helmrath9:05 ↗
Esophageal strictures are very applicable to this therapy, and Dr. Helmrath anticipates using this therapy in patients this decade.
opinionMichael Helmrath9:20 ↗
Growing functional intestinal tissue from stem cells with Dr. Michael Helmrath
The gut includes complexity beyond the epithelial lining: nerves, muscles, immune system, luminal bacteria recognition, and microbiota.
clinicalMichael Helmrath0:55 ↗
The lab has developed methods to grow from a single stem cell drawn from blood the entire GI tract from mouth to anus.
Host summaryEm Gootee summarizes what Dr. Michael Helmrath said — not the host's own clinical position1:16 ↗
The first bowel made roughly 11 years ago was small bowel, which was able to be transplanted into the animal.
clinicalMichael Helmrath1:25 ↗
Colon transplants into animals but not as well as small bowel, while antral structures (esophagus and stomach) did not and do not readily transplant into the animal.
clinicalMichael Helmrath1:34 ↗
A single organoid grown in a dish for roughly a month and transplanted into an animal produces human intestine on top of the kidney of the mouse that is fully laminated and looks no different than a biopsy.
Host summaryEm Gootee summarizes what Dr. Michael Helmrath said — not the host's own clinical position1:45 ↗
Nerves are not present in the grafts initially; they are just mesenchyme and endoderm, but nerves can be added by adding neurosphere to the dish when transplanting.
clinicalMichael Helmrath2:05 ↗
When nerves are present in grafts, they cause the ingrowth of human vasculature; cells in the graft that are endothelial progenitors are told what to do by nerves.
clinicalMichael Helmrath2:20 ↗
Nerve presence is important for tissue used for the esophagus.
clinicalMichael Helmrath2:31 ↗
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