ABSTRACT

In the last decade, adult stem cell-derived organoids have become versatile tools in disease modelling and bioengineering. The possibilities to expand healthy human tissue of almost every organ and control its differentiation states makes these 3D tissue models a suitable platform for studies in diverse research areas. Among these are host-microbiome interactions, where numerous clinical associations await functional validation. Here, I highlight our recent advances in modelling cancer-microbiome interactions using organoids and organs-on-chips. I discuss approaches to expose human intestinal organoids to cancer-associated bacteria and the various read-outs which can provide mechanistic insights into their crosstalk. A particular focus is laid on genotoxic bacteria that can induce mutations in cancer genomes and on intracellular bacteria and their roles in colorectal cancer disease progression and metastasis.

BIOSKETCH

Dr. Jens Puschhof is a Junior Group Leader at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, heading the Epithelium Microbiome Interaction Laboratory (EMIL). His research focuses on engineering advanced organoid and organ-on-a-chip co-culture models to investigate cancer–microenvironment interactions, with a particular emphasis on the microbiome's role in development and metastasis of gastrointestinal tumors. Dr. Puschhof completed his PhD in the laboratory of Hans Clevers at the Hubrecht Institute, following an MSc by Research at the University of Oxford and research training at Harvard Medical School and Heidelberg University. His work has been featured in leading journals such as Nature, Cell, and Science. He is the recipient of the 2023 German Cancer Prevention Junior Research Prize and the 2026 Engelhorn Foundation Prize for his work on genotoxic bacteria. His group was awarded an ERC Starting Grant and Emmy Noether Award to advance their work on bacterial influences in colorectal cancer metastases and cancer development, respectively. He co-chairs the DKTK BACTORG consortium to move mechanistic insights into microbe-cancer interactions towards clinical translation.