Intestinal Organoids: A Novel and Ideal in vitro Platform for Swine Enteric Coronavirus Investigations

Swine enteric coronavirus-derived disease is an acute, highly contagious and infectious disease that causes symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration and high lethality in suckling piglets, posing a serious threat to the global pig farming industry. The main viral pathogens responsible for the disease include TGEV, PEDV, PDCoV, and SADS-CoV. The investigations of these viruses have been severely impeded by the lack of good in vitro culture systems and small animal models. Intestinal organoids are derived from crypt stem cells, which undergo growth, development and differentiation into structures resembling the intestinal tube morphology, thereby serving as an effective model for studying enteric pathogen‒host interactions in a manner that is as close as possible to in vivo conditions. This review outlines the establishment, regulation, and applications of intestinal organoids, with a particular focus on the advancements in research made possible by swine enteric coronaviruses using this model. The limitations of the intestinal organoids model and potential avenues for future improvement are also discussed. Finally, the findings emphasize the benefits of intestinal organoid models in investigating intestinal pathogen‒host interactions and how they will continue to offer a valuable platform for swine enteric coronavirus research with further developments in intestinal organoid technology.