eBook: Advanced Tools Transforming Neurology Research - 4

applicability of lab work to clinical therapeutics. By
better mimicking the cellular microenvironment,
and facilitating personalized therapeutics by using
patient-derived stem cells, organoids are providing
invaluable insights into neuroinflammatory medical
hypotheses.
In Chapter 2 of this eBook, we cover the establishment
of brain organoids for modeling neuroinflammation.
We review how astrocytes and microglia
activate the immune response in the central nervous
system, by a large repertoire of molecules and
signaling pathways. One can introduce these molecules,
such as pro-inflammatory cytokines, to brain
organoids in a controlled manner. Sino Biological
has an array of bioactive recombinant cytokines,
from various animal species, for such purposes.
By simulating infections and mimicking central
nervous system pathologies, researchers can gain
insights into underlying causes of neurodegenerative
diseases.
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases have a pathology
that remains poorly understood, which
has long hindered the development of effective
therapeutics. Studying such pathology with
conventional cell lines is problematic because they
do not exhibit the cell-cell interactions and other
features that are critical to cell differentiation and
other pertinent aspects of neurophysiology. In
contrast, organoids can replicate physiology that is
unattainable from 2D in vitro studies and inaccessible
from in vivo work. Thus, they are a first step to
understanding pathological states in neurological
and other maladies.
In Chapter 3 of this eBook, we cover the necessity
of organoids for modeling neurodegenerative and
other pathologies. Human induced pluripotent
stem cells from ACROBiosystems can be used to
prepare organoids that mimic brain, cardiac, and
retina cellular architectures. These organoids express
different markers at different time points. For
example, at 119 days, cerebral markers indicate a
substantial number of oligodendrocytes and mature
neurons. Over time, immature cell markers
such as PAX6 decrease, yet mature cell markers
such as MAP2 increase. Furthermore, cardiac organoids
mimic the systole and diastole phases of
cardiac conduction, and exhibit electrical waveforms
that mimic electrocardiogram waves.
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eBook: Advanced Tools Transforming Neurology Research

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