Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (488 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
An organization of cells into an organ-like structure. Organoids can be generated in culture, e.g., self-organized three-dimensional tissue structures derived from stem cells (see microphysiological systems). They are also found in certain neoplasms.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Organoid.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Tissues
- Narrower topics
- Microphysiological Systems
Related concepts
- Stem Cells
- Microphysiological Systems
- Neoplasms
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 18,981 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Organoids” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 9,387 of them (49.5%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2020 onward with 9,387 records.
Reviews account for 3,176 records (16.7%) and meta-analyses for 6. Randomized controlled trials number 5 (0.0%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 7,561 |
| 2000-2009 | 119 |
| 2010-2019 | 1,914 |
| 2020 onward | 9,387 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 3,176 | 16.7% |
| Meta-analyses | 6 | 0.0% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 5 | 0.0% |
Method: PubMed query "Organoids"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in anatomy and physiology
Anatomy describes how body structures are built and physiology describes how they normally work, so most findings here are descriptive or mechanistic rather than evidence about treatment. Much of what is known comes from dissection, imaging, tissue studies and experiments in animals, and measurements in healthy volunteers can differ from those in people with disease or at different ages. Normal ranges vary between individuals and populations. Check whether a result was measured in people or in another species, the age and health of the participants, and the method used.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A tumour-derived organoid biobank maps cancer gene dependencies | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 6 | cc by PMID 42557320 · DOI · PMC13581617 |
| Interferon-γ selectively promotes survival of alveolar progenitor cells in a human lung organoid model | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 6 | cc by PMID 41992061 · DOI · PMC13187038 |
| Human gastric multi-regional assembloids for functional parietal maturation and patient-specific modelling of antral foveolar hyperplasia | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 6 | cc by PMID 41578032 · DOI · PMC13672061 |
A tumour-derived organoid biobank maps cancer gene dependencies [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Cancer cell lines remain foundational for research and drug discovery, yet they incompletely capture tumour diversity, lack linked patient context, and have undergone adaptation to culture.
- Closing excerpt
- This open, publicly available resource provides a systematic map of gene dependencies in patient-derived organoids, expanding the model diversity and mechanistic insight needed to advance precision oncology.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (168 words)
Cancer cell lines remain foundational for research and drug discovery, yet they incompletely capture tumour diversity, lack linked patient context, and have undergone adaptation to culture. Tumour organoids are three-dimensional cultures derived from patient tissue that offer a powerful complement to cell lines1. Here we derived and characterized 256 clinically annotated tumour organoids directly from colorectal, oesophageal, ovarian, pancreatic and gastric cancers as renewable, genetically stable models. Extensive characterization of each model and matched patient tumour samples included whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing, and genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screens across 162 organoids mapped gene dependencies. Integrative analyses revealed genomic and clinical markers of dependency across common and rare subtypes, identified organoid-specific essential genes, and revealed targetable vulnerabilities following tumour evolution in paired pre- and post-treatment samples. In colorectal cancer, functional and pharmacological interrogation of the EGFR-RAS-MAPK axis uncovered differential effects of KRAS variant alleles. This open, publicly available resource provides a systematic map of gene dependencies in patient-derived organoids, expanding the model diversity and mechanistic insight needed to advance precision oncology.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42557320 · DOI · PMC13581617
Interferon-γ selectively promotes survival of alveolar progenitor cells in a human lung organoid model [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Disease of the lung alveoli is frequently associated with acute or chronic inflammation.
- Closing excerpt
- Our organoid model provides a reductionist platform for mechanistic studies and discovery of strategies to enhance alveolar regeneration.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (150 words)
Disease of the lung alveoli is frequently associated with acute or chronic inflammation. At present, there are no effective therapies to support regeneration of the alveolar epithelium, and ongoing inflammation adds an additional layer of complexity to many lung diseases. Here, we describe a primary adult human organoid model for investigating how inflammation shapes alveolar regeneration. Unlike previous models, this system supports long-term expansion of newly identified human-specific alveolar progenitor cells and serum-free differentiation into alveolar type 1 (AT1)-like cells. Using this platform, we find that interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) exerts cytotoxic effects on mature AT1-like cells while promoting survival of alveolar progenitor cells mediated by BIRC3. This unexpected selective positive effect of IFN-γ on alveolar progenitors underscores the need for nuanced and context-dependent evaluation of the influence of pro-inflammatory cytokines on alveolar regeneration. Our organoid model provides a reductionist platform for mechanistic studies and discovery of strategies to enhance alveolar regeneration.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 41992061 · DOI · PMC13187038
Human gastric multi-regional assembloids for functional parietal maturation and patient-specific modelling of antral foveolar hyperplasia [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Patient-derived human organoids have the capacity to self-organize into more complex structures.
- Closing excerpt
- Multi-regional gastric assembloids, generated using paediatric-stem-cell-derived organoids, successfully recapitulate the structural and functional characteristics of the human stomach, offering a promising tool for studying gastric epithelial interactions and disease mechanisms that were previously challenging to investigate in primary models.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (170 words)
Patient-derived human organoids have the capacity to self-organize into more complex structures. However, to what extent gastric organoids can recapitulate differentiated cell types and mucosal functions remains unexplored. Here we report on how region-specific gastric organoids can self-assemble into complex multi-regional assembloids. These assembloids show increased complexity and cross-communication between different gastric regions, allowing for the emergence of the elusive parietal cell type that is responsible for the production of gastric acid and shows a functional response to drugs targeting the H+/K+ ATPase pump. We generate assembloids from paediatric patients with a genetic condition found to be associated with unusual antral foveolar hyperplasia and hyperplastic polyposis. Our multi-regional assembloid efficiently recapitulates hyperplastic-like antral regions, with decreased mucin secretion and glycosylated H+/K+ ATPase subunit beta, which results in impaired gastric acid secretion. Multi-regional gastric assembloids, generated using paediatric-stem-cell-derived organoids, successfully recapitulate the structural and functional characteristics of the human stomach, offering a promising tool for studying gastric epithelial interactions and disease mechanisms that were previously challenging to investigate in primary models.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 41578032 · DOI · PMC13672061
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Human organoids as 3D in vitro platforms for drug discovery: opportunities and challenges [4]
- Research article Reproducible extracellular matrices for tumor organoid culture: challenges and opportunities [5]
- Research article Recent progress on the organoids: Techniques, advantages and applications [6]
- Research article Effects of hydrogel stiffness and viscoelasticity on organoid culture: a comprehensive review [7]
- Research article The future of tumor organoids in precision therapy [8]
- Research article Vascularised organoids: Recent advances and applications in cancer research [9]
References
- Herranz-Ors C, Bhosle SG, Beck AE, Gilbert JGR, Picco G, Espejo Valle-Inclan J, et al.. A tumour-derived organoid biobank maps cancer gene dependencies. . 2026. PMID 42557320 · DOI · PMC13581617
- Dost AFM, Balážová K, Pou Casellas C, van Rooijen LM, Epskamp W, van Son GJF, et al.. Interferon-γ selectively promotes survival of alveolar progenitor cells in a human lung organoid model. . 2026. PMID 41992061 · DOI · PMC13187038
- Jones BC, Benedetti G, Calà G, Amiri R, Tullie L, Lutman R, et al.. Human gastric multi-regional assembloids for functional parietal maturation and patient-specific modelling of antral foveolar hyperplasia. . 2026. PMID 41578032 · DOI · PMC13672061
- Wang D, Villenave R, Stokar-Regenscheit N, Clevers H. Human organoids as 3D in vitro platforms for drug discovery: opportunities and challenges. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2026. PMID 41225057 · DOI
- Li K, He Y, Jin X, Jin K, Qian J. Reproducible extracellular matrices for tumor organoid culture: challenges and opportunities. J Transl Med. 2025. PMID 40312683 · DOI · PMC12044958
- Liu X, Zhou Z, Zhang Y, Zhong H, Cai X, Guan R. Recent progress on the organoids: Techniques, advantages and applications. Biomed Pharmacother. 2025. PMID 40043462 · DOI
- Lai W, Geliang H, Bin X, Wang W. Effects of hydrogel stiffness and viscoelasticity on organoid culture: a comprehensive review. Mol Med. 2025. PMID 40033190 · DOI · PMC11877758
- Kim SY, van de Wetering M, Clevers H, Sanders K. The future of tumor organoids in precision therapy. Trends Cancer. 2025. PMID 40185656 · DOI
- Zhou R, Brislinger D, Fuchs J, Lyons A, Langthaler S, Hauser CAE, et al.. Vascularised organoids: Recent advances and applications in cancer research. Clin Transl Med. 2025. PMID 40045486 · DOI · PMC11882480
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-31.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.