Long-lived organoids
The brain in a test tube will help diagnose neurological diseases
Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+
Biologists from the American Tufts University have optimized the process of growing human brain tissue so that an organoid can act as a test nervous system for months.
Scientists are already using artificially grown brain tissue to study Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases. And the discovery of American specialists will allow to maintain the functionality of the organoid for at least nine months, in a mixture of silk protein and stem cells taken from patients. Brain organoids usually have a short lifespan, but new artificial brain tissues will allow scientists to monitor the development of neurological diseases in order to find a way to diagnose them at an early stage, according to a press release from Tufts scientists grow functioning human neural networks in 3D from stem cells.
Article by Cantley et al. Functional and Sustainable 3D Human Neural Network Models from Pluripotent Stem Cells is published in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering.
In the image, neurons (green) and astrocytes (their cell markers are indicated in red) grown from induced pluripotent stem cells of a patient with Alzheimer's disease, in a porous matrix of silk protein and collagen (colored blue) – VM.
According to Professor David Kaplan, optimization of the environment not only helps to keep organoids in working condition longer. It also contributes to the emergence of various types of brain cells.
"We have found the right conditions for obtaining pluripotent stem cells that differentiate into a number of different subtypes of nerves, as well as astrocytes that help the growth of neural networks," says Professor Kaplan. "Silk collagen scaffolds provide the right environment for the production of cells with genetic signatures and the transmission of electrical signals characteristic of natural nerve tissues."
Tufts University biologists have been working on creating a mini-brain suitable for neurological research for five years. In 2013, they managed to obtain from stem cells the brain of a human embryo at the age of nine weeks.
The method of mass production of brain organoids was recently discovered by US scientists. Usually this process is expensive, but they managed to reduce the cost and speed it up. To do this, it is necessary to compress and optimize several stages of the process so that the development of different cells is synchronized.
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