Neurological disorders are the second cause of death and the leading cause of disability worldwide. Unfortunately, no cure exists for these disorders, but the actual therapies are only able to ameliorate people's quality of life. Thus, there is an urgent need to test potential therapeutic approaches. Brain organoids are a possible valuable tool in the study of the brain, due to their ability to reproduce different brain regions and maturation stages; they can be used also as a tool for disease modelling and target identification of neurological disorders. Recently, brain organoids have been used in drug-screening processes, even if there are several limitations to overcome. This review focuses on the description of brain organoid development and drug-screening processes, discussing the advantages, challenges, and limitations of the use of organoids in modeling neurological diseases. We also highlighted the potential of testing novel therapeutic approaches. Finally, we examine the challenges and future directions to improve the drug-screening process.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16040443 | DOI Listing |
Cell Rep
December 2024
School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA. Electronic address:
Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis relies on the presence of extracellular β-amyloid (Aβ) and intracellular hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau). Emerging evidence suggests a potential link between AD pathologies and infectious agents, with herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) being a leading candidate. Our investigation, using metagenomics, mass spectrometry, western blotting, and decrowding expansion pathology, detects HSV-1-associated proteins in human brain samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrends Biotechnol
January 2025
Department of Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address:
Human brain organoids (hBOs) are in vitro, 3D, self-organizing brain tissue structures increasingly used for modeling brain development and disease. Although they traditionally lack vasculature, recent bioengineering developments enable their vascularization, which partly recapitulates neurodevelopmental processes such as neural tube angiogenesis, formation of neurovascular unit (NVU)-like structures, and early barriergenesis. Although vascularized hBOs (vhBOs) are already used to model (defects in) neurovascular development, vascularization efficiency and other outcomes differ substantially between vascularization protocols and overall shortcomings should be considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell Rep
January 2025
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200031, China. Electronic address:
Humans are widely exposed to phthalates, a common chemical plasticizer. Previous cohort studies have revealed that maternal exposure to monobutyl phthalate (MBP), a key metabolite of phthalates, is associated with neurodevelopmental defects. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
Purdue University, Lafayette, IN, USA.
Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, affecting 50 million people globally. Current AD animal models mainly focus on familial or inherited AD. These models often carry the APP and PSEN gene mutations from familial AD patients, or introduce microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) mutations, which can cause frontotemporal dementia but are not linked to AD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Background: Mitochondrial dysfunction and Aβ accumulation are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the role of these pathologies in Down Syndrome associated Alzheimer's Disease (DSAD) is unknown. Decades of research describe a relationship between mitochondrial function and Aβ production.
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