scholarly journals Brain organoid: a 3D technology for investigating cellular composition and interactions in human neurological development and disease models in vitro

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwafemi Solomon Agboola ◽  
Xinglin Hu ◽  
Zhiyan Shan ◽  
Yanshuang Wu ◽  
Lei Lei
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Neural Development ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Cellular Interactions ◽  
Neural Lineage ◽  
Brain Physiology ◽  
Brain Organoid

Abstract The study of human brain physiology, including cellular interactions in normal and disease conditions, has been a challenge due to its complexity and unavailability. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) study is indispensable in the study of the pathophysiology of neurological disorders. Nevertheless, monolayer systems lack the cytoarchitecture necessary for cellular interactions and neurological disease modeling. Brain organoids generated from human pluripotent stem cells supply an ideal environment to model both cellular interactions and pathophysiology of the human brain. This review article discusses the composition and interactions among neural lineage and non-central nervous system cell types in brain organoids, current studies, and future perspectives in brain organoid research. Ultimately, the promise of brain organoids is to unveil previously inaccessible features of neurobiology that emerge from complex cellular interactions and to improve our mechanistic understanding of neural development and diseases. Graphical abstract

scholarly journals Challenges in Modeling Human Neural Circuit Formation via Brain Organoid Technology

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi K. Matsui ◽  
Yuichiro Tsuru ◽  
Ken-ichiro Kuwako
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Neural Lineage ◽  
Human Brain Development ◽  
Brain Organoid ◽  
Circuit Formation

Human brain organoids are three-dimensional self-organizing tissues induced from pluripotent cells that recapitulate some aspects of early development and some of the early structure of the human brain in vitro. Brain organoids consist of neural lineage cells, such as neural stem/precursor cells, neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Additionally, brain organoids contain fluid-filled ventricle-like structures surrounded by a ventricular/subventricular (VZ/SVZ) zone-like layer of neural stem cells (NSCs). These NSCs give rise to neurons, which form multiple outer layers. Since these structures resemble some aspects of structural arrangements in the developing human brain, organoid technology has attracted great interest in the research fields of human brain development and disease modeling. Developmental brain disorders have been intensely studied through the use of human brain organoids. Relatively early steps in human brain development, such as differentiation and migration, have also been studied. However, research on neural circuit formation with brain organoids has just recently began. In this review, we summarize the current challenges in studying neural circuit formation with organoids and discuss future perspectives.

scholarly journals Human iPSC-Based Modeling of Central Nerve System Disorders for Drug Discovery

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1203
Author(s):  
Lu Qian ◽  
Julia TCW
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Central Nerve System ◽  
Human Ipscs ◽  
Nerve System

A high-throughput drug screen identifies potentially promising therapeutics for clinical trials. However, limitations that persist in current disease modeling with limited physiological relevancy of human patients skew drug responses, hamper translation of clinical efficacy, and contribute to high clinical attritions. The emergence of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology revolutionizes the paradigm of drug discovery. In particular, iPSC-based three-dimensional (3D) tissue engineering that appears as a promising vehicle of in vitro disease modeling provides more sophisticated tissue architectures and micro-environmental cues than a traditional two-dimensional (2D) culture. Here we discuss 3D based organoids/spheroids that construct the advanced modeling with evolved structural complexity, which propels drug discovery by exhibiting more human specific and diverse pathologies that are not perceived in 2D or animal models. We will then focus on various central nerve system (CNS) disease modeling using human iPSCs, leading to uncovering disease pathogenesis that guides the development of therapeutic strategies. Finally, we will address new opportunities of iPSC-assisted drug discovery with multi-disciplinary approaches from bioengineering to Omics technology. Despite technological challenges, iPSC-derived cytoarchitectures through interactions of diverse cell types mimic patients’ CNS and serve as a platform for therapeutic development and personalized precision medicine.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological Analysis of Brain Organoids: Current Approaches and Advancements

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin P. Passaro ◽  
Steven L. Stice
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput Screening ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Physiological Relevance ◽  
Human Cell Cultures ◽  
Brain Organoid ◽  
Electrophysiological Methods

Brain organoids, or cerebral organoids, have become widely used to study the human brain in vitro. As pluripotent stem cell-derived structures capable of self-organization and recapitulation of physiological cell types and architecture, brain organoids bridge the gap between relatively simple two-dimensional human cell cultures and non-human animal models. This allows for high complexity and physiological relevance in a controlled in vitro setting, opening the door for a variety of applications including development and disease modeling and high-throughput screening. While technologies such as single cell sequencing have led to significant advances in brain organoid characterization and understanding, improved functional analysis (especially electrophysiology) is needed to realize the full potential of brain organoids. In this review, we highlight key technologies for brain organoid development and characterization, then discuss current electrophysiological methods for brain organoid analysis. While electrophysiological approaches have improved rapidly for two-dimensional cultures, only in the past several years have advances been made to overcome limitations posed by the three-dimensionality of brain organoids. Here, we review major advances in electrophysiological technologies and analytical methods with a focus on advances with applicability for brain organoid analysis.

scholarly journals Studying Heterotypic Cell–Cell Interactions in the Human Brain Using Pluripotent Stem Cell Models for Neurodegeneration

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqing Song ◽  
Yuanwei Yan ◽  
Mark Marzano ◽  
Yan Li
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Endothelial Cells ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disease ◽  
Disease Progression ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Neural Cells ◽  
Cellular Interactions ◽  
Induced Pluripotent

Human cerebral organoids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide novel tools for recapitulating the cytoarchitecture of the human brain and for studying biological mechanisms of neurological disorders. However, the heterotypic interactions of neurovascular units, composed of neurons, pericytes (i.e., the tissue resident mesenchymal stromal cells), astrocytes, and brain microvascular endothelial cells, in brain-like tissues are less investigated. In addition, most cortical organoids lack a microglia component, the resident immune cells in the brain. Impairment of the blood-brain barrier caused by improper crosstalk between neural cells and vascular cells is associated with many neurodegenerative disorders. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), with a phenotype overlapping with pericytes, have promotion effects on neurogenesis and angiogenesis, which are mainly attributed to secreted growth factors and extracellular matrices. As the innate macrophages of the central nervous system, microglia regulate neuronal activities and promote neuronal differentiation by secreting neurotrophic factors and pro-/anti-inflammatory molecules. Neuronal-microglia interactions mediated by chemokines signaling can be modulated in vitro for recapitulating microglial activities during neurodegenerative disease progression. In this review, we discussed the cellular interactions and the physiological roles of neural cells with other cell types including endothelial cells and microglia based on iPSC models. The therapeutic roles of MSCs in treating neural degeneration and pathological roles of microglia in neurodegenerative disease progression were also discussed.

scholarly journals Tracing Early Neurodevelopment in Schizophrenia with Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Cells ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruhel Ahmad ◽  
Vincenza Sportelli ◽  
Michael Ziller ◽  
Dietmar Spengler ◽  
Anke Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Neuronal Cell ◽  
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Micro Rna ◽  
Patient Specific ◽  
Induced Pluripotent

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a devastating mental disorder that is characterized by distortions in thinking, perception, emotion, language, sense of self, and behavior. Epidemiological evidence suggests that subtle perturbations in early neurodevelopment increase later susceptibility for disease, which typically manifests in adolescence to early adulthood. Early perturbations are thought to be significantly mediated through incompletely understood genetic risk factors. The advent of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology allows for the in vitro analysis of disease-relevant neuronal cell types from the early stages of human brain development. Since iPSCs capture each donor’s genotype, comparison between neuronal cells derived from healthy and diseased individuals can provide important insights into the molecular and cellular basis of SCZ. In this review, we discuss results from an increasing number of iPSC-based SCZ/control studies that highlight alterations in neuronal differentiation, maturation, and neurotransmission in addition to perturbed mitochondrial function and micro-RNA expression. In light of this remarkable progress, we consider also ongoing challenges from the field of iPSC-based disease modeling that call for further improvements on the generation and design of patient-specific iPSC studies to ultimately progress from basic studies on SCZ to tailored treatments.

scholarly journals Multicellular Human Cardiac Organoids Transcriptomically Model Distinct Tissue-Level Features of Adult Myocardium

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (16) ◽  
pp. 8482
Author(s):  
Charles M. Kerr ◽  
Dylan Richards ◽  
Donald R. Menick ◽  
Kristine Y. Deleon-Pennell ◽  
Ying Mei
Keyword(s):  
Immune Cells ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Tissue Level ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Human Myocardium ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Induced Pluripotent

Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) have been widely used for disease modeling and drug cardiotoxicity screening. To this end, we recently developed human cardiac organoids (hCOs) for modeling human myocardium. Here, we perform a transcriptomic analysis of various in vitro hiPSC-CM platforms (2D iPSC-CM, 3D iPSC-CM and hCOs) to deduce the strengths and limitations of these in vitro models. We further compared iPSC-CM models to human myocardium samples. Our data show that the 3D in vitro environment of 3D hiPSC-CMs and hCOs stimulates the expression of genes associated with tissue formation. The hCOs demonstrated diverse physiologically relevant cellular functions compared to the hiPSC-CM only models. Including other cardiac cell types within hCOs led to more transcriptomic similarities to adult myocardium. hCOs lack matured cardiomyocytes and immune cells, which limits a complete replication of human adult myocardium. In conclusion, 3D hCOs are transcriptomically similar to myocardium, and future developments of engineered 3D cardiac models would benefit from diversifying cell populations, especially immune cells.

scholarly journals Deciphering and reconstitution of positional information in the human brain development

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Fan Wang ◽  
Cong Liu ◽  
Peng-Fei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Neural Development ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Positional Information ◽  
Physiological Level ◽  
Vitro Model ◽  
Brain Organoid ◽  
The Brain

AbstractOrganoid has become a novel in vitro model to research human development and relevant disorders in recent years. With many improvements on the culture protocols, current brain organoids could self-organize into a complicated three-dimensional organization that mimics most of the features of the real human brain at the molecular, cellular, and further physiological level. However, lacking positional information, an important characteristic conveyed by gradients of signaling molecules called morphogens, leads to the deficiency of spatiotemporally regulated cell arrangements and cell–cell interactions in the brain organoid development. In this review, we will overview the role of morphogen both in the vertebrate neural development in vivo as well as the brain organoid culture in vitro, the strategies to apply morphogen concentration gradients in the organoid system and future perspectives of the brain organoid technology.

scholarly journals A novel approach to derive human midbrain-specific organoids from neuroepithelial stem cells

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna S. Monzel ◽  
Lisa M. Smits ◽  
Kathrin Hemmer ◽  
Siham Hachi ◽  
Edinson Lucumi Moreno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Dopaminergic Neurons ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Neurological Diseases ◽  
Oligodendrocyte Differentiation ◽  
Human Brain Development ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Brain Organoid

AbstractResearch on human brain development and neurological diseases is limited by the lack of advanced experimental in vitro models that truly recapitulate the complexity of the human brain. Furthermore, animal models of human neurodegenerative diseases have failed dramatically, and the success rate of clinical trials based on these models has been disappointing. Here, we describe a novel and robust human brain organoid system that is highly specific to the midbrain derived from regionally patterned neuroepithelial stem cells. These human midbrain organoids contain spatially organized groups of dopaminergic neurons, which make them an attractive model to study Parkinson’s disease. Midbrain organoids are characterized in detail for neuronal, astroglial and oligodendrocyte differentiation. Furthermore, we show the presence of synaptic connections and electrophysiological activity. The complexity of this model is further highlighted by the myelination of neurites. The present midbrain organoid system has the potential to be used for advanced in vitro disease modeling and therapy development.

scholarly journals Zika Virus Infection Leads to Demyelination and Axonal Injury in Mature CNS Cultures

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Verena Schultz ◽  
Stephanie L. Cumberworth ◽  
Quan Gu ◽  
Natasha Johnson ◽  
Claire L. Donald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Neural Development ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Neural Cells ◽  
Zikv Infection ◽  
Axonal Pathology ◽  
Time Frames

Understanding how Zika virus (Flaviviridae; ZIKV) affects neural cells is paramount in comprehending pathologies associated with infection. Whilst the effects of ZIKV in neural development are well documented, impact on the adult nervous system remains obscure. Here, we investigated the effects of ZIKV infection in established mature myelinated central nervous system (CNS) cultures. Infection incurred damage to myelinated fibers, with ZIKV-positive cells appearing when myelin damage was first detected as well as axonal pathology, suggesting the latter was a consequence of oligodendroglia infection. Transcriptome analysis revealed host factors that were upregulated during ZIKV infection. One such factor, CCL5, was validated in vitro as inhibiting myelination. Transferred UV-inactivated media from infected cultures did not damage myelin and axons, suggesting that viral replication is necessary to induce the observed effects. These data show that ZIKV infection affects CNS cells even after myelination—which is critical for saltatory conduction and neuronal function—has taken place. Understanding the targets of this virus across developmental stages including the mature CNS, and the subsequent effects of infection of cell types, is necessary to understand effective time frames for therapeutic intervention.

scholarly journals Role of SHH in Patterning Human Pluripotent Cells towards Ventral Forebrain Fates

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 914
Author(s):  
Melanie V. Brady ◽  
Flora M. Vaccarino
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Technical Ability ◽  
Cellular Phenotypes

The complexities of human neurodevelopment have historically been challenging to decipher but continue to be of great interest in the contexts of healthy neurobiology and disease. The classic animal models and monolayer in vitro systems have limited the types of questions scientists can strive to answer in addition to the technical ability to answer them. However, the tridimensional human stem cell-derived organoid system provides the unique opportunity to model human development and mimic the diverse cellular composition of human organs. This strategy is adaptable and malleable, and these neural organoids possess the morphogenic sensitivity to be patterned in various ways to generate the different regions of the human brain. Furthermore, recapitulating human development provides a platform for disease modeling. One master regulator of human neurodevelopment in many regions of the human brain is sonic hedgehog (SHH), whose expression gradient and pathway activation are responsible for conferring ventral identity and shaping cellular phenotypes throughout the neural axis. This review first discusses the benefits, challenges, and limitations of using organoids for studying human neurodevelopment and disease, comparing advantages and disadvantages with other in vivo and in vitro model systems. Next, we explore the range of control that SHH exhibits on human neurodevelopment, and the application of SHH to various stem cell methodologies, including organoids, to expand our understanding of human development and disease. We outline how this strategy will eventually bring us much closer to uncovering the intricacies of human neurodevelopment and biology.

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