Neural Organoid Insights

Neural organoids are three-dimensional, self-organizing cellular models generated from human pluripotent stem cells or primary tissues. Because these advanced 3D models can recapitulate many features of the human brain in vitro, neuroscientists are increasingly relying on neural organoids to investigate neurodevelopmental pathways, establish phenotypic models of disease, examine the impact of neurotoxicants, and explore unprecedented therapeutic strategies including precision and neuroregenerative medicine.

Featured on this page:

• >> Coffee Break Webinars
• >> PBS Documentary: The Cannabis Question
• >> Publications
• >> Application Notes and Culture Protocols
• >> In the News

 

Discover how Axion’s next-generation live-cell analysis tools can accelerate your disease research and drug discovery workflows:

>> Maestro multielectrode array (MEA) platform — Assess key parameters of neural network function in real time with Axion’s nonstop, noninvasive, label-free Maestro MEA and powerful, intuitive software.

>> Omni imaging platform — Visualize the growth, differentiation, cell morphology, and cell viability of neural organoids as they develop with Axion’s automated, AI-supported live-cell imaging tools.

 

Coffee Break Webinars

Sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy these 10-minute on-demand webinars.

Webinar

Standardizing organoid production and analysis

Author: Mike Clements

Product: Omni and Omni Pro 12, Confluency Module, SpheroGuide MEA Plate,

Coffee Break Webinar

Neanderthal mini-brains

Author: Cleber Trujillo, PhD

Product: Maestro Pro, Neural Module, CytoView MEA Plate,

Coffee Break Webinar

Measuring oscillatory waves in cerebral organoids

Author: Prof. Alysson Muotri

Product: Maestro Pro, Neural Module, CytoView MEA Plate, Maestro Edge,

Coffee Break Webinar

Neuronal Organoid activity mimics the fetal brain

Author: P. Zafeiriou, PhD

Product: Maestro Pro, Neural Module, CytoView MEA Plate,

Coffee Break Webinar

The spectrum in a dish: Using neurophysiology to build a human iPSC model of autism

Author: Michael Nestor, PhD

Product: Maestro Pro, Neural Module, CytoView MEA Plate,

PBS Documentary: The Cannabis Question

Start watching at 22:50 to see how Dr. Alysson Muotri is using neural organoids to explore the impact of CBD on autism spectrum disorder.

Neural Organoid Publications

Browse over 70 selected publications illustrating how scientists around the world are using neural organoids for disease research and therapeutic discovery.

Disease research

16p11.2 disorders

• >>   Tissue- and cell-type-specific molecular and functional signatures of 16p11.2 reciprocal genomic disorder across mouse brain and human neuronal models

ALS

• >>   Biosensing system for drug evaluation of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis based on muscle bundle and nano-biohybrid hydrogel composed of multiple motor neuron spheroids and carbon nanotubes
• >>   Neuromuscular organoids model spinal neuromuscular pathologies in C9orf72 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Alzheimer’s disease

• >>   Modeling Sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease in Human Brain Organoids under Serum Exposure
• >>   Mechanisms of hyperexcitability in Alzheimer's disease hiPSC-derived neurons and cerebral organoids vs. isogenic controls
• >>   NitroSynapsin ameliorates hypersynchronous neural network activity in Alzheimer hiPSC models

Autism spectrum disorders

• >>   Dysregulation of miRNA expression and excitation in MEF2C autism patient hiPSC-neurons and cerebral organoids
• >>   Transcription Factor 4 loss-of-function is associated with deficits in progenitor proliferation and cortical neuron content
• >>   Human forebrain organoids reveal connections between valproic acid exposure and autism risk

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS)

• >>   Organoid models of breathing disorders reveal patterning defect of hindbrain neurons caused by PHOX2B-PARMs

Focal cortical dysplasia

• >>   Junctional instability in neuroepithelium and network hyperexcitability in a focal cortical dysplasia human model
• >>   Personalized Human Astrocyte-Derived Region-Specific Forebrain Organoids Recapitulate Endogenous Pathological Features of Focal Cortical Dysplasia

Glioblastoma

• >>   Electrophysiological characterization of glioma using a biomimetic Spheroid Model
• >>   Glioblastoma remodelling of human neural circuits decreases survival
• >>   Modeling the precise interaction of glioblastoma with human brain region-specific organoids

Hypothalamus disorders

• >>   Novel human pluripotent stem cell-derived hypothalamus organoids demonstrate cellular diversity

Lewy body diseases

• >>   Modeling Lewy body disease with SNCA triplication iPSC-derived cortical organoids and identifying therapeutic drugs

Myasthenia gravis (NMJ)

• >>   Self-Organizing 3D Human Trunk Neuromuscular Organoids

Noonan syndrome

• >>   SHP2 mutations induce precocious gliogenesis of Noonan syndrome-derived iPSCs during neural development in vitro

Optogenetics

• >>   Genome engineering of a neuronal specific, optogenetic, induced pluripotent stem cell line

PACS1 syndrome

• >>   iPSC-derived models of PACS1 syndrome reveal transcriptional and functional deficits in neuron activity

Pain

• >>   Human Spinal Organoid-on-a-Chip to Model Nociceptive Circuitry for Pain Therapeutics Discovery
• >>   Generation of human region-specific brain organoids with medullary spinal trigeminal nuclei

Parkinson's Disease

• >>   𝜶-Synuclein Pathology Spreads in a Midbrain–Hindbrain Assembloid Model
• >>   Impaired neuron differentiation in GBA-associated Parkinson’s disease is linked to cell cycle defects in organoids
• >>   Insulin resistance compromises midbrain organoid neuronal activity and metabolic efficiency predisposing to Parkinson’s disease pathology
• >>   Unraveling the assembloid: Real-time monitoring of dopaminergic neurites in an inter-organoid pathway connecting midbrain and striatal regions

Prader-Willi

• >>   Generation of hypothalamic arcuate organoids from human induced pluripotent stem cells

Retinoblastoma

• >>   Retinoblastoma from human stem cell-derived retinal organoids

Rett syndrome

• >>   Pharmacological reversal of synaptic and network pathology in human MECP2‐KO neurons and cortical organoids

Schizophrenia

• >>   Human forebrain organoid-based multi-omics analyses of PCCB as a schizophrenia associated gene linked to GABAergic pathways
• >>   miRNA profiling of hiPSC-derived neurons from monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia

Viral infection

• >>   Acetate, a metabolic product of Heligmosomoides polygyrus, facilitates intestinal epithelial barrier breakdown in a FFAR2-dependent manner
• >>  Brain organoids-on-chip for neural diseases modeling: History, challenges and trends
• >>  Host Plasma Microenvironment in Immunometabolically Impaired HIV Infection Leads to Dysregulated Monocyte Function and Synaptic Transmission Ex Vivo
• >>   Modeling Human Cytomegalovirus-Induced Microcephaly in Human iPSC-Derived Brain Organoids
• >>   Neurodegeneration in human brain organoids infected with herpes simplex virus type 1

Neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration

• >>   A Robust Pipeline for the Multi-Stage Accelerated Differentiation of Functional 3D Cortical Organoids from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
• >>   Buprenorphine and methadone differentially alter early brain development in human cortical organoids
• >>   CB1 antagonism increases excitatory synaptogenesis in a cortical spheroid model of fetal brain development
• >>   Complex oscillatory waves emerging from cortical organoids model early human brain network development
• >>   Developmental GABA polarity switch and neuronal plasticity in Bioengineered Neuronal Organoids
• >>   Human cerebral spheroids undergo 4 aminopyridine induced, activity associated changes in cellular composition and microRNA expression
• >>   Hyaluronan regulates synapse formation and function in developing neural networks
• >>   Loss of GTF2I promotes neuronal apoptosis and synaptic reduction in human cellular models of neurodevelopment
• >>   Natural variation in gene expression and viral susceptibility revealed by neural progenitor cell villages
• >>   Neurodevelopmental defects in human cortical organoids with N-acetylneuraminic acid synthase mutation
• >>   Proteasome stress in skeletal muscle mounts a long-range protective response that delays retinal and brain aging
• >>   Reintroduction of the archaic variant of NOVA1 in cortical organoids alters neurodevelopment
• >>   The Role of KDM2A and H3K36me2 Demethylation in Modulating MAPK Signaling During Neurodevelopment

Neurotoxicology

• >>   Evaluation of Neurotoxicity With Human Pluripotent Stem Cell–Derived Cerebral Organoids
• >>   Impact of alcohol exposure on neural development and network formation in human cortical organoids
• >>   Methadone interrupts neural growth and function in human cortical organoids
• >>   Molecular and Functional Characterization of Different BrainSphere Models for Use in Neurotoxicity Testing on Microelectrode Arrays
• >>   Multi-organ model assessment of neurotoxicity following exposure of liver spheroids to drugs
• >>   Nanoscale Diesel-Exhaust Particulate Matter (DPM) Impairs Synaptic Plasticity of Human iPSCs-Derived Cerebral Organoids

 

Regenerative medicine

• >>   Generation of neural organoids for spinal-cord regeneration via the direct reprogramming of human astrocytes
• >>   Sensor Technologies for Quality Control in Engineered Tissue Manufacturing

 

Organoid development and optimization

• >>  Adoption of microfluidic MEA technology for electrophysiology of 3D neuronal networks exposed to suborbital conditions
• >>   Antidepressant aripiprazole induces adverse effects on neural development during cortex organoid generation
• >>   A versatile polypharmacology platform promotes cytoprotection and viability of human pluripotent and differentiated cells
• >>   Effects of microgravity on human iPSC-derived neural organoids on the International Space Station
• >>   Effective cryopreservation of human brain tissue and neural organoids
• >>   Establishing Neural Organoid Cultures for Investigating the Effects of Microgravity in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)
• >>   Generation of human iPSCs derived heart organoids structurally and functionally similar to heart
• >>   Generation of self-organized neuromusculoskeletal tri-tissue organoids from human pluripotent stem cells
• >>   Generation of ‘semi-guided’ cortical organoids with complex neural oscillations
• >>   High-throughput screening of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived brain organoids
• >>   Human apical-out nasal organoids reveal an essential role of matrix metalloproteinases in airway epithelial differentiation
• >>   Human microglia states are conserved across experimental models and regulate neural stem cell responses in chimeric organoids
• >>   [PRE-PRINT] Microglia integration into human midbrain organoids leads to increased neuronal maturation and functionality. (update-published in Glia)
• >>   Molecularly cleavable bioinks facilitate high-performance digital light processing-based bioprinting of functional volumetric soft tissues
• >>   Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Neurotransmitter and Neurosteroid Production in Cerebral Organoids during Differentiation
• >>   Synergistic hyperactivation of both mTORC1 and mTORC2 underlies the neural abnormalities of PTEN-deficient human neurons and cortical organoids
• >>   Three-dimensional liquid metal-based neuro-interfaces for human hippocampal organoids
• >>   Vascular network-inspired diffusible scaffolds for engineering functional midbrain organoids

 

 

Neural Organoid Application Notes and Culture Protocols

Learn how easy it is to monitor neural organoids on Axion's hands-free, automated platforms.



Learn More

Application Note: Neural Organoid Activity Assay 



More Info

Cell Culture Protocol: Neural Organoids



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Organotypic Slice Protocol from Stem Cell-derived Neuronal Organoids

 

 

Neural Organoids In the News

Learn about opportunities and challenges in neural organoid technology.

 


A mind for medicine

Why Cannabinoids Might Be a Problem and a Solution for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Organoids: Only as Useful as Our Analysis

 


Organoids: What a decade of research looks like

Contract Pharma - Structure vs. Function in Cerebral Organoids: How and Why to Study Both

Using Cortical Spheroids to Study Endocannabinoids and Autism Spectrum Disorder