3D bioprinting as a tool to study amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
2022
IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease (NDD) that affects motor neurons, causing weakness, muscle atrophy and spasticity. Unfortunately, there are only symptomatic treatments available. The aim of this work was to demonstrate the robustness of 3D cultures for the differentiation of stem cells for the study of ALS. The authors reprogrammed peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy individuals and patients with ALS in iPSCs and differentiated them into neural stem cells (NSCs) in 2D. NSCs were printed in 3D hydrogel-based constructs and subsequently differentiated first in motor neuron progenitors and finally in motor neurons. Every step of differentiation was tested for cell viability and characterized by confocal microscopy and RT-qPCR. Finally, the electrophysiological characteristics of included NSC34 were tested. It was found that NSCs maintained good viability during the 3D differentiation. The results suggest that the hydrogel does not interfere with the correct differentiation process or with the electrophysiological features of the included cells. Such evidence confirmed that 3D bioprinting can be considered a good model for the study of ALS pathogenesis.
Patients’ stem cells differentiation in a 3D environment as a promising experimental tool for the study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Orietta Pansarasa
Added on: 02-06-2023
[1] https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/10/5344
