Advances in Recapitulating Alzheimer's Disease Phenotypes Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Based In Vitro Models.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of death among older individuals. Available treatment strategies only temporarily mitigate symptoms without modifying disease progression. Recent studies revealed the multifaceted neurobiology of AD and shifted the target of drug development.

Neuron and astrocyte aggregation and sorting in three-dimensional neuronal constructs.

Aggregation and self-sorting of cells in three dimensional cultures have been described for non-neuronal cells. Despite increased interest in engineered neural tissues for treating brain injury or for modeling neurological disorders in vitro, little data is available on collective cell movements in neuronal aggregates. Migration and sorting of cells may alter these constructs' morphology and, therefore, the function of their neural circuitry.

Micro Three-Dimensional Neuronal Cultures Generate Developing Cortex-Like Activity Patterns.

Studies aimed at neurological drug discovery have been carried out both and . cell culture models have showed potential as drug testing platforms characterized by high throughput, low cost, good reproducibility and ease of handling and observation. However, neuronal culture models are facing challenges in replicating -like activity patterns.

Neural layer self-assembly in geometrically confined rat and human 3D cultures.

Neurological disorders affect millions of Americans and this number is expected to rise with the aging population. Development of drugs to treat these disorders may be facilitated by improved in vitro models that faithfully reproduce salient features of the relevant brain regions. Current 3D culture methods face challenges with reliably reproducing microarchitectural features of brain morphology such as cortical or hippocampal layers.

Neural Circuits on a Chip.

Neural circuits are responsible for the brain's ability to process and store information. Reductionist approaches to understanding the brain include isolation of individual neurons for detailed characterization. When maintained in vitro for several days or weeks, dissociated neurons self-assemble into randomly connected networks that produce synchronized activity and are capable of learning.