Brain organoids develop optic cups that respond to light

August 17, a study published in the Cell Press (Cell Press) 's journal Cell Stem Cell showed that human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be used to generate (a structure in the eye) contained in the optic cup Brain organoids

Elke Gabriel et al.

Many aspects of human brain development and diseases can be studied with 3D brain-like organs derived from pluripotent stem cells.

But in the past, the use of pluripotent stem cells to derive optic cups was mainly for the production of retina

In order to achieve this goal, Gopalakrishnan and the team modified their previously developed solution for transforming iPSCs into neural tissue

Using 16 independent batches of iPSCs from 4 donors, the researchers generated 314 brain organoids, 72% of which formed optic cups, indicating that the method is reproducible

Gopalakrishnan said: "In the mammalian brain, the nerve fibers of retinal ganglion cells extend outward to connect with their brain targets, but this has never been demonstrated in an in vitro system

In future research, scientists plan to develop a strategy to enable the optic cup to survive for a long time, so as to study the inducing mechanism of retinal diseases

Reference materials:

Elke Gabriel et al.