Maxima Mahé is currently working as an INSERM Junior Assistant Professor at the research unit „The Enteric Nervous System in Gut and Brain Disorders (TENS)“, which is a joint research unit of IMAD, university of Nantes and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM).
The use of human pluripotent stem cells offers great avenues to generate human tissues. The understanding of intestinal development and its translation to human pluripotent stem cells, allowed the field to move forward in understanding intestinal development and gastrointestinal diseases. For the past 5 years, their lab has developed model systems of the human intestine with the endeavor to study gastrointestinal physiopathology. Using human pluripotent stem cells, the TENS group was able to generate a human intestine reassembling human intestinal features including and enteric nervous system. In addition, they were able to model GI diseases including Hirschsprung’s disease. The use of iPSCs-derived organoid models represent a real opportunity to expand our knowledge into the effect of ENS on intestinal development and toward the understanding of pathophysiological processes leading to functional gastrointestinal neuropathies. In addition, their lab is also investigating forthecoming strategies that could be used to create a fully functional intestine in vitro that could be used in conjonction with microbiota and nutrients.