# Catholic University of Korea team builds 3D co-culture platform for gut microbes and host cells

- Published: 2026-11-06 02:30 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Biology & biochemistry
- Tags: 3D co-culture platform, gut microbiota, host-microbe interaction, Mm 3D-HaeMan, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Anaerostipes caccae, butyrate, Catholic University of Korea, Ewha Womans University
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-c613baf61332eea0d3a522d8_catholic_university_of/

**The platform, developed with Ewha Womans University, keeps oxygen-dependent human cells and anaerobic gut bacteria in separate layers of one culture system.**

![Catholic University of Korea team builds 3D co-culture platform for gut microbes and host cells](https://sgzwpqqelzmajkcubgkl.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/rt-media/2026/11/e97674411ff9d35b.jpg)
*Syed Sajidul Islam, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0*

A team led by Professor Kang Nam-joo at the Catholic University of Korea, with Professor Kim Bong-soo's group at Ewha Womans University, developed a three-dimensional co-culture platform that mimics the human colon to study interactions between gut microbes and host cells, unimatea.co.kr reports. [1] The work was published on October 23 in Gut Microbes (2025 JCR impact factor 15.3, top 5.4% in microbiology). [1]

## Limits of existing models

Human cells need oxygen, while anaerobic gut microbes are oxygen-sensitive, so stable joint culture has been difficult in conventional models. [1] Gut organoids and gut-on-a-chip systems reproduce tissue structure and control the microenvironment well, but co-culturing anaerobes with immune cells may require extra techniques or equipment. [1]

## Platform design

The platform, Mm 3D-HaeMan (Mucosal Mimetic 3D–Host Aerobic Microbiota Anaerobic Co-culture), reproduces the colon's oxygen gradient and mucus layer. [1] Epithelial cells, immune cells and anaerobic microbes occupy spatially separate layers, each under suitable conditions, and interact via metabolites and signaling molecules. [1] It runs on general-purpose culture equipment, and each layer can be sampled independently, so gene expression and metabolism of host cells and microbes can be analyzed simultaneously. [1]

## Test with two bacteria

The team analyzed cross-feeding between Bifidobacterium bifidum and Anaerostipes caccae. Co-culture increased production of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid important for gut health. [1] With host cells, the authors observed higher mitochondrial respiration in epithelial cells, preserved barrier-related function and altered immune cytokine responses. [1] Joint transcriptome analysis showed that microbial metabolic gene expression depended on the presence of host cells. [1]

## Sources

1. [unimatea.co.kr](https://www.unimatea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=16966)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-c613baf61332eea0d3a522d8_catholic_university_of/