Niche-preserving transplantation promotes functional engraftment of intestinal organoids in rat short bowel syndrome.

Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a life-threatening condition in which outcomes often critically depend on ileal function, the only intestinal segment specialized for bile acid uptake and efficient fat absorption. However, whether restoring ileal epithelium-specific nutrient absorption can ameliorate SBS has remained unknown. Here, we demonstrate a niche-preserving transplantation strategy enabling highly efficient engraftment of intestinal organoids into the rat small intestine. Clearing luminal mucus with N-acetylcysteine facilitates ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-based epithelial detachment, enabling removal of Lgr5+ stem cells while preserving the stromal niche. This preconditioning increased the engrafted area and enabled the generation of an ilealized jejunum that improved body-weight trajectories and survival in rat SBS. Furthermore, the engrafted epithelia endowed the jejunum with bile acid absorption capacity. These findings provide in vivo evidence for stem cell niche theory, showing that the niche is essential to accommodate donor stem cells, and establish ilealized jejunum as a path toward autologous, region-targeted therapy for SBS.