Vascularization of human brain organoids

AbstractHuman brain organoids are three ‐dimensional tissues that are generated in vitro from pluripotent stem cells and recapitulate the early development of the human brain. Brain organoids consist mainly of neural lineage cells, such as neural stem/precursor cells, neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. However, all human brain o rganoids lack vasculature, which plays indispensable roles not only in brain homeostasis but also in brain development. In addition to the delivery of oxygen and nutrition, accumulating evidence suggests that the vascular system of the brain regulates neural differentiation, migration, and circuit f ormation during development. Therefore, vascularization of human brain organoids is of great importance. Current trials to vascularize various organoids include the adjustment of cultivation protocols, the introduction of microfluidic devices, and the transplantation of organoids into immunodeficien t mice. In this review, we summarize the efforts to accomplish vascularization and perfusion of brain organoids, and we discuss these attempts from a forward‐looking perspective.

Source: Stem Cells - March 31, 2021 Category: Stem Cells Authors: Takeshi K. Matsui, Yuichiro Tsuru, Koichi Hasegawa, Ken ‐ichiro Kuwako Tags: Stem Cell Technology: Epigenetics, Genomics, Proteomics and Metabonomics Source Type: research