scholarly journals Advances in microfluidic in vitro systems for neurological disease modeling

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 1276-1307
Author(s):  
Paul M. Holloway ◽  
Sandrine Willaime‐Morawek ◽  
Richard Siow ◽  
Melissa Barber ◽  
Róisín M. Owens ◽  
...  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10s1 ◽  
pp. BMI.S23912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Schwan ◽  
Stuart G. Campbell

Cardiomyocytes derived from human stem cells are quickly becoming mainstays of cardiac regenerative medicine, in vitro disease modeling, and drug screening. Their suitability for such roles may seem obvious, but assessments of their contractile behavior suggest that they have not achieved a completely mature cardiac muscle phenotype. This could be explained in part by an incomplete transition from fetal to adult myofilament protein isoform expression. In this commentary, we review evidence that supports this hypothesis and discuss prospects for ultimately generating engineered heart tissue specimens that behave similarly to adult human myocardium. We suggest approaches to better characterize myofilament maturation level in these in vitro systems, and illustrate how new computational models could be used to better understand complex relationships between muscle contraction, myofilament protein isoform expression, and maturation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Zhen Zhang ◽  
Li-Xiang Ma ◽  
Wen-Jing Qian ◽  
Hong-Fu Li ◽  
Zhong-Feng Wang ◽  
...  

Somatic cells can be directly converted into functional neurons by ectopic expression of defined factors and/or microRNAs. Since the first report of conversion mouse embryonic fibroblasts into functional neurons, the postnatal mouse, and human fibroblasts, astroglia, hepatocytes, and pericyte-derived cells have been converted into functional dopaminergic and motor neurons bothin vitroandin vivo. However, it is invasive to get all these materials. In the current study, we provide a noninvasive approach to obtain directly reprogrammed functional neurons by overexpression of the transcription factors Ascl1, Brn2, NeuroD, c-Myc, and Myt1l in human urine cells. These induced neuronal (iN) cells could express multiple neuron-specific proteins and generate action potentials. Moreover, urine cells from Wilson’s disease (WD) patient could also be directly converted into neurons. In conclusion, generation of iN cells from nonneural lineages is a feasible and befitting approach for neurological disease modeling.


1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
L L Otis ◽  
B W Colston ◽  
M J Everett ◽  
H Nathel

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. 3141
Author(s):  
Hyerin Jung ◽  
Yeri Alice Rim ◽  
Narae Park ◽  
Yoojun Nam ◽  
Ji Hyeon Ju

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disease characterized by bone fragility and repeated fractures. The bone fragility associated with OI is caused by a defect in collagen formation due to mutation of COL1A1 or COL1A2. Current strategies for treating OI are not curative. In this study, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from OI patient-derived blood cells harboring a mutation in the COL1A1 gene. Osteoblast (OB) differentiated from OI-iPSCs showed abnormally decreased levels of type I collagen and osteogenic differentiation ability. Gene correction of the COL1A1 gene using CRISPR/Cas9 recovered the decreased type I collagen expression in OBs differentiated from OI-iPSCs. The osteogenic potential of OI-iPSCs was also recovered by the gene correction. This study suggests a new possibility of treatment and in vitro disease modeling using patient-derived iPSCs and gene editing with CRISPR/Cas9.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasaman Shamshirgaran ◽  
Anna Jonebring ◽  
Anna Svensson ◽  
Isabelle Leefa ◽  
Mohammad Bohlooly-Y ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent advances in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), genome editing technologies and 3D organoid model systems highlight opportunities to develop new in vitro human disease models to serve drug discovery programs. An ideal disease model would accurately recapitulate the relevant disease phenotype and provide a scalable platform for drug and genetic screening studies. Kidney organoids offer a high cellular complexity that may provide greater insights than conventional single-cell type cell culture models. However, genetic manipulation of the kidney organoids requires prior generation of genetically modified clonal lines, which is a time and labor consuming procedure. Here, we present a methodology for direct differentiation of the CRISPR-targeted cell pools, using a doxycycline-inducible Cas9 expressing hiPSC line for high efficiency editing to eliminate the laborious clonal line generation steps. We demonstrate the versatile use of genetically engineered kidney organoids by targeting the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) genes: PKD1 and PKD2. Direct differentiation of the respective knockout pool populations into kidney organoids resulted in the formation of cyst-like structures in the tubular compartment. Our findings demonstrated that we can achieve > 80% editing efficiency in the iPSC pool population which resulted in a reliable 3D organoid model of ADPKD. The described methodology may provide a platform for rapid target validation in the context of disease modeling.


Author(s):  
Alessandra Silvestri ◽  
Francisca Vicente ◽  
María J. Vicent ◽  
Bahne Stechmann ◽  
Wolfgang Fecke

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1203
Author(s):  
Lu Qian ◽  
Julia TCW

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 7929
Author(s):  
Megan Chesnut ◽  
Thomas Hartung ◽  
Helena Hogberg ◽  
David Pamies

Neurodevelopment is uniquely sensitive to toxic insults and there are concerns that environmental chemicals are contributing to widespread subclinical developmental neurotoxicity (DNT). Increased DNT evaluation is needed due to the lack of such information for most chemicals in common use, but in vivo studies recommended in regulatory guidelines are not practical for the large-scale screening of potential DNT chemicals. It is widely acknowledged that developmental neurotoxicity is a consequence of disruptions to basic processes in neurodevelopment and that testing strategies using human cell-based in vitro systems that mimic these processes could aid in prioritizing chemicals with DNT potential. Myelination is a fundamental process in neurodevelopment that should be included in a DNT testing strategy, but there are very few in vitro models of myelination. Thus, there is a need to establish an in vitro myelination assay for DNT. Here, we summarize the routes of myelin toxicity and the known models to study this particular endpoint.


The Analyst ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhajit Chakraborty ◽  
Atanu Nandy ◽  
Subhadip Ghosh ◽  
Nirmal Kumar Das ◽  
Sameena Parveen ◽  
...  

Sub-nanomolar selective detection of Hg(ii) ions by protein (Human Serum Albumin, HSA) templated gold nanoclusters (AuNCs), both in in vitro as well as in vivo environments and specific endocytose behaviour towards breast cancer (BC) cell lines.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 914
Author(s):  
Melanie V. Brady ◽  
Flora M. Vaccarino

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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