# Building and Validating a Novel Fluidic Model of the Small Intestine

> **NIH NIH R21** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $196,250

## Abstract

Project Summary
The work proposed in this application will seek to develop a novel and greatly improved bioreactor to study
events in the upper intestine. Specifically, we will validate the model by studying the effect of IgA on S.
typhimurium attachment and colonization of the small intestinal villi. S. typhimurium is an enteric pathogen that
kills as many as 400 people annually in the United States and makes upwards of a million people sick. There is
a great deal of knowledge available regarding S. typhimurium attachment to the upper intestine with respect to
the biochemical landscape of the intestine, but there is a gap in understanding as to how IgA works in concert
with toll-like receptors to prevent S. typhimurium attachment. This work will make use of novel 3D printed
bioreactors that have features of well-differentiated human intestinal organoids (HIOs) and cadaveric human
enteroids (HEs) growing on villous scaffolds of the appropriate size and distribution to represent actual villi,
apical and basolateral flow and real time measurements of trans-epithelial electric resistance (TEER).
Importantly, these reactors can be used to add complex fluidic properties of the small intestine into studies
around S. typhimurium attachment to the upper intestinal epithelial cells in a well-controlled and reproducible
manner.
The overall objective for this research is to culture monolayers of HIOs and HEs on villous scaffolds in a 3D
printed fluidic model to better understand how fluid dynamics and epithelial gene expression contribute to
bacterial niche establishment. The work will investigate S. typhimurium attachment and colonization in the
presence and absence of isotopes of immunoglobulin A (IgA). The specific aims for this work are:
Specific Aim 1: Create permissive growth environment for HIOs and HEs in bioreactors and validate
effects of flow on growth and differentiation.
Specific Aim 2: Test if the bioreactor set up can be used to study the protective effects of Sal-4 IgA
against ST infection.
The overarching hypothesis for this work is that combining human organoid and enteroid cells with the correct
villous topography in a non-laminar flow field will lead to a far superior experimental setup for understanding the
complex interplay between upper intestinal bacteria, epithelial cells and the immune system. This high risk work,
if successful, will lead to a high throughput platform that will facilitate much deeper understanding of the
mechanisms at play in intestinal homeostasis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10009337
- **Project number:** 5R21EB028041-02
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** John C March
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $196,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-05 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10009337

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10009337, Building and Validating a Novel Fluidic Model of the Small Intestine (5R21EB028041-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10009337. Licensed CC0.

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