Application of Fused Organoid Models to Study Human Brain Development and Neural Disorders

Augustin Chen; Zhenming Guo; Lipao Fang; Shan Bian

doi:10.3389/fncel.2020.00133

Application of Fused Organoid Models to Study Human Brain Development and Neural Disorders

Front Cell Neurosci. 2020 May 15:14:133. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2020.00133. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Augustin Chen^{1

2

3}, Zhenming Guo^{1

2

4}, Lipao Fang^{1

2

3}, Shan Bian^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
² Frontier Science Center for Stem Cell Research, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
³ Molecular Physiology, Center for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine (CIPMM), University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany.
⁴ Bio-X Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Human brain organoids cultured from human pluripotent stem cells provide a promising platform to recapitulate histological features of the human brain and model neural disorders. However, unlike animal models, brain organoids lack a reproducible topographic organization, which limits their application in modeling intricate biology, such as the interaction between different brain regions. To overcome these drawbacks, brain organoids have been pre-patterned into specific brain regions and fused to form an assembloid that represents reproducible models recapitulating more complex biological processes of human brain development and neurological diseases. This approach has been applied to model interneuron migration, neuronal projections, tumor invasion, oligodendrogenesis, forebrain axis establishment, and brain vascularization. In this review article, we will summarize the usage of this technology to understand the fundamental biology underpinning human brain development and disorders.

Keywords: brain developement; brain organoid; fusion models; neural disorder; stem cells.

Publication types

Review