A new type of whole-brain organoid has been developed at Johns Hopkins University in the US. This“Mini-human brain” will open a new era of research into diseases such as autism. The study, published recently in the journal Advanced Science, marks the first time that scientists have been able to create an organoid containing tissues from different regions of the brain that are connected and work in concert.
The study’s author, Annie Katulia, an associate professor of Johns Hopkins University Engineering at Johns Hopkins, said most of the brain organoids seen in the paper usually contained only one brain region, such as the cortex, hindbrain or midbrain, and the cultivation of the whole brain organoids, namely multi-regional brain organoids. Having a brain model based on human cells would open up the possibility of studying neurological disorder such as autism and schizophrenia that affect the brain, which have previously been done in animal models.
To make whole-brain organoids, the researchers first grew nerve cells and primitive forms of blood vessels from different parts of the brain, then glued the parts together using sticky proteins that act as a biological glue As the tissues grow and fuse, they begin to generate electrical activity and respond as a network. This whole-brain organoid retains a variety of types of neuron cells that resemble the brain tissue of a 40-day-old human fetus.
“If you want to understand neurodevelopmental disorders and related diseases, you need to study models that contain human cells,” katurian said. “And with whole brain organoids, you can watch the development of diseases in real time and see if treatments are effective.” It can even be tailored to individual patients. Understanding what goes wrong early in brain development may lead to new targets for drug screening and the testing of new drugs or treatments in whole-brain organoids.