Brain Organoids as Tools for Modeling Human Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Pediatric gliomas as neurodevelopmental disorders.

Brain tumors represent the most common solid tumor of childhood, with gliomas comprising the largest fraction of these cancers. Several features distinguish them from their adult counterparts, including their natural history, causative genetic mutations, and brain locations. These unique properties suggest that the cellular and molecular etiologies that underlie their development and maintenanc...

Generating CNS organoids from human induced pluripotent stem cells for modeling neurological disorders.

Understanding human brain development and disease is largely hampered by the relative inaccessibility of human brain tissues. Recent advances in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have led to the generation of unlimited human neural cells and thereby facilitate the investigation of human brain development and pathology. Compared with traditional 2-dimensional (2D) culture methods, cu...

Translational potential of human brain organoids

The recent technology of 3D cultures of cellular aggregates derived from human stem cells have led to the emergence of tissue-like structures of various organs including the brain. Brain organoids bear molecular and structural resemblance with developing human brains, and have been demonstrated to recapitulate several physiological and pathological functions of the brain. Here we provide an ove...

Microbiota and neurodevelopmental windows: implications for brain disorders.

Gut microbiota is essential to human health, playing a major role in the bidirectional communication between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system. The microbiota undergoes a vigorous process of development throughout the lifespan and establishes its symbiotic rapport with the host early in life. Early life perturbations of the developing gut microbiota can impact neurodevel...

Kidney organoids for disease modeling