Organoid model for traumatic brain injury in humans
2023
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, USA
Creating an environment, that mimics human brain tissue under mechanical stimulation, would be extremely useful to study a range of human-specific biological processes and conditions related to brain trauma. One approach is to use human cerebral organoids (hCOs) in-vitro models. hCOs recreate key cytoarchitectural features of the human brain. Here, a novel approach to emulate mild and moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) was proposed using hCOs that undergo strain rates indicative of TBI. The researchers subjected the hCOs to mild and moderate loading conditions, examined the mechanotransduction response, and investigated downstream genomic effects and regulatory pathways. The revealed pathways of note were cell death and metabolic and biosynthetic pathways implicating genes such as CARD9, ENO1, and FOXP3, respectively. Additionally, a steeper ascent in calcium signalling was shown as higher loading conditions on the organoids were imposed. The elucidation of neural response to mechanical stimulation in reliable human cerebral organoid models gives insights into a better understanding of traumatic brain injury in humans.
Characterization of neural mechanotransduction response in human traumatic brain injury organoid model
Pascal O. Zinn
Added on: 09-20-2023
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-40431-y
