Air–liquid interface intestinal culture
Contributed to early air–liquid interface methods for long-term epithelial culture and tissue architecture.
Scientific leadership
Xingnan Li, PhD
Chief Scientist & CTO, TRiCBIOCo-developer of ALI tumor-immune organoid technology
Xingnan Li, PhD works at the intersection of tumor biology, organoid technology and translational research. Her research spans early ALI intestinal culture, oncogenic transformation in primary tissue and the co-development of tumor-immune organoid methods.
As a co-first author of the 2018 Cell paper, she helped establish an approach for studying tumor cells with immune cells retained from the source sample within a three-dimensional tissue context. This body of work continues to guide model development, assay selection and study design at TRiCBIO.
Research focus
Advancing tumor–immune research with ALI organoids
Xingnan Li, PhD focuses on tissue architecture, sample-derived immune cells and treatment response in ALI organoid systems, bringing this experience to TRiCBIO PDO 2.0 study design.
Research contributions
ALI tumor-immune organoid research
- 01Contributed to early long-term ALI intestinal culture research
- 02Led first-author studies in primary-tissue organoid transformation and ALI methods
- 03Co-developed ALI patient-derived tumor-immune organoids
Research timeline
Key milestones in ALI and organoid research
Oncogenic transformation in organoid models
First-author work used primary mouse gastric, pancreatic and colonic organoids to study oncogenic transformation under defined genetic changes.
ALI method publication
Published a first-author methods protocol for reproducible air–liquid interface organoid culture.
Cell tumor-immune organoid study
As co-first author, co-developed ALI patient-derived tumor organoids to study tumors with immune cells retained from the source sample.
Engineered matrices for human intestinal organoids
Co-authored work on engineered matrices for human patient-derived intestinal organoids, broadening culture and translational applications.
Cell · 2018
View the PubMed record ↗Organoid Modeling of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment
Co-first author · Peer-reviewed publication · PMID 30550791
Selected paper figures
Key findings in ALI tumor-immune organoids
Figures from the 2018 Cell paper show ALI tumor-immune organoid establishment, tissue architecture and immune cells retained from the source sample—and how these elements inform PDO 2.0 study design.
Summarizes how patient tumor tissue, ALI organoid culture, microenvironment context and immunotherapy studies connect.
Neal JT, Li X et al. Cell. 2018;175:1972–1988.e16. DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2018.11.021.
Shows tissue architecture and CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD56 and PD-1 profiles across ALI organoids, including effects of culture duration and IL-2 on measurable TILs.
Neal JT, Li X et al. Cell. 2018;175:1972–1988.e16, Figure 3.Additional publications
ALI culture, oncogenic transformation and engineered matrices
Sustained in vitro intestinal epithelial culture within a Wnt-dependent stem cell nicheNature Medicine · Co-author
↗2014Established long-term ALI culture of mouse small- and large-intestinal tissue with epithelial and stromal components, and examined Wnt- and Notch-related niche regulation.
PMID 19398967 · DOI 10.1038/nm.1951Oncogenic transformation of diverse gastrointestinal tissues in primary organoid cultureNature Medicine · First author
↗2016Used primary mouse gastric, pancreatic and colonic ALI organoids to model defined oncogenic transformation and validate cancer drivers.
PMID 24859528 · DOI 10.1038/nm.3585An Air–Liquid Interface Culture System for 3D Organoid Culture of Diverse Primary Gastrointestinal TissuesMethods in Molecular Biology · First author
↗2021Published a practical protocol for ALI 3D culture of diverse primary gastrointestinal tissues to support reproducible method use.
PMID 27246020 · DOI 10.1007/978-1-4939-3603-8_4Engineered Matrices Enable the Culture of Human Patient-Derived Intestinal OrganoidsAdvanced Science · Co-author
↗Examined engineered matrices that support human patient-derived intestinal organoid culture and expand understanding of organoid–matrix interactions.
PMID 34026461 · DOI 10.1002/advs.202004705Field recognition
Organoid 2.0 across Nature Reviews Cancer
Nature Reviews Cancer introduced the “Organoid 2.0” framing for ALI tumor–immune organoids in 2019 and revisited tumor–immune organoid models and applications in depth in 2024. For immunotherapy, complex drug mechanisms and tissue-level response studies, this direction adds biological context beyond epithelial-only organoids.
2019 · Research Highlight
Organoid 2.0
Nature Reviews Cancer · Anna DartThe article framed the Cell 2018 ALI tumor–immune organoid study as “Organoid 2.0”: extending the model beyond tumor epithelium to include source-sample tissue architecture and immune context for tumor–immune interaction studies.
DOI 10.1038/s41568-019-0108-x ↗2024 · Review ArticleCancer organoids 2.0: modelling the complexity of the tumour immune microenvironment
Nature Reviews Cancer · Roel Polak · Elisa T. Zhang · Calvin J. KuoThe review maps tumor–immune organoid models, immune-analysis approaches and drug-research applications, showing how tissue and immune context can inform the study of treatment response and mechanism.
DOI 10.1038/s41568-024-00706-6 ↗Xingnan Li’s peer-reviewed work spans ALI culture, oncogenic transformation in primary tissue, tumor–immune microenvironment models and engineered organoid culture, and continues to inform TRiCBIO’s PDO 2.0 model development and immune-study design.
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