A research team from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has published groundbreaking findings in the journal Cell, successfully cultivating lung organoids with fully functional vascular networks for the first time. This pioneering work, led by Dr. Mingxia Gu, provides a revolutionary tool for studying lung diseases and developing personalized treatments.

Using an innovative co-culture approach, the team enabled simultaneous development of lung tissue and vascular systems, overcoming the limitation of traditional organoids that lack vascular networks. Dr. Gu stated: "This method more faithfully recapitulates human lung development." Compared to conventional approaches involving separate culture followed by assembly, the newly developed mini-lungs exhibit superior cellular diversity, three-dimensional structure, and viability.

The researchers applied this technology to study alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACDMPV), a fatal congenital lung disorder. By generating vascularized lung organoids from patient-derived stem cells, the team successfully recapitulated disease-associated vascular defects and secondary abnormalities, offering new insights into this class of disorders.

The study also revealed close interactions between lung tissue and the vascular system during early development, findings that will help scientists better understand human organogenesis. The team plans to further refine the model by simulating respiratory mechanics to bring the organoids closer to mature lung tissue and scale up production for drug testing.