食管的鳞状上皮直接暴露在环境中，不断面对外来抗原，包括食物抗原和微生物。维持上皮屏障的完整性对于预防感染和避免无害的食物源性抗原引起的炎症至关重要。本文提供了从患者活检中生成人类食管类器官和气液界面培养物的简化方案，以研究组织稳态和疾病背景下的食管上皮区室。这些协议在过去十年中是重要的科学里程碑，描述了来自患者来源的原代细胞、类器官和气液界面培养物的三维器官样结构。它们提供了在三维框架内研究食管上皮中特定细胞因子、生长因子和信号通路的功能的可能性，同时保持供体的表型和遗传特性。类器官通过评估细胞因子刺激后的转录组和蛋白质组来提供有关组织微结构的信息。相比之下，气液界面培养可以通过跨上皮阻力（TEER）或大分子通量测量来评估上皮屏障的完整性。将这些类器官和气液界面培养物相结合是推进食管上皮屏障受损状况研究的有力工具。

The squamous epithelium of the esophagus is directly exposed to the environment, continuously facing foreign antigens, including food antigens and microbes. Maintaining the integrity of the epithelial barrier is critical for preventing infections and avoiding inflammation caused by harmless food-derived antigens. This article provides simplified protocols for generating human esophageal organoids and air-liquid interface cultures from patient biopsies to study the epithelial compartment of the esophagus in the context of tissue homeostasis and disease. These protocols have been significant scientific milestones in the last decade, describing three-dimensional organ-like structures from patient-derived primary cells, organoids, and air-liquid interface cultures. They offer the possibility to investigate the function of specific cytokines, growth factors, and signaling pathways in the esophageal epithelium within a three-dimensional framework while maintaining the phenotypic and genetic properties of the donor. Organoids provide information on tissue microarchitecture by assessing the transcriptome and proteome after cytokine stimulation. In contrast, air-liquid interface cultures allow the assessment of the epithelial barrier integrity through transepithelial resistance (TEER) or macromolecule flux measurements. Combining these organoids and air-liquid interface cultures is a powerful tool to advance research in impaired esophageal epithelial barrier conditions.