Lab-grown structure is equivalent to a 5-week-old human embryo brain
Researchers from the Ohio State University have developed an almost complete human brain model; similar in maturity to the brain of a five-week-old foetus.
The cerebral organoid is the most human-like model created to date and is about the size of a pencil eraser. Scientists engineered the construct from induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs); themselves generated from adult human skin cells.Induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) are cells that are capable of becoming many different cell types and can be generated directly from adult cells. They bypass the need to use embryo derived stem cells (which are considered controversial) and because they are created directly from adult tissues they can be patient-matched (i.e. have the same genomic material).
An organoid is a small organ-like structure grown in a laboratory, often for the purposes of regenerative medicine.
Dr Rene Anand’s, Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, grew the structure in his lab and made the announcement at the 2015 Military Health System Research Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Dr Anand said: “It not only looks like the developing brain, its diverse cell types express nearly all genes like a brain. The power of this brain model bodes very well for human health because it gives us better and more relevant options to test and develop therapeutics other than rodents.”
This work builds upon other lab-produced cerebral organoids, like those created in Professor Jürgen Knoblich’s lab at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Science (IMBA). The new organoid contains 99% of the genes present in the human foetal brain. This system should enable ethical, rapid and accurate testing of experimental drugs before clinical trials.
The scientists were inspired to try and develop a lab-based model of a human brain to overcome disappointing results from a study of an experimental autism drug in rodents.
Dr Anand said: “In central nervous system diseases, this will enable studies of either underlying genetic susceptibility or purely environmental influences, or a combination.
“Genomic science infers there are up to 600 genes that give rise to autism, but we are stuck there. Mathematical correlations and statistical methods are insufficient to in themselves identify causation. You need an experimental system – you need a human brain.”
Dr Anand’s lab-grown brain has identifiable structures like an optic stalk, cerebral hemisphere and cephalic flexure, all characteristic of the human foetal brain. Additionally high-resolution imaging identified functioning neurons and their axons and dendrites plus astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia, all necessary cell types for a fully functioning brain.
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