The potentials and pitfalls of a human cervical organoid model including Langerhans cells

Three-dimensional cell culturing to capture a life-like experimental environment has become a versatile tool for basic and clinical research. Mucosal and skin tissues can be grown as “organoids” in a petri dish and serve a wide variety of research questions. Here, we report our experience with human cervical organoids which could also include an immune component, e.g. Langerhans cells. We employ commercially available human cervical keratinocytes and fibroblasts as well as a myeloid cell line matured and purified into langerin-positive Langerhans cells. These are then seeded on a layer of keratinocytes with underlying dermal equivalent. Using about 10-fold more than the reported number in healthy cervical tissue (1–3%), we obtain differentiated cervical epithelium after 14 days with ~ 1% being Langerhans cells. We provide a detailed protocol for interested researchers to apply the described “aseptic” organoid model for all sorts of investigations—with or without Langerhans cells.