DEVELOPMENT OF NEURAL ORGANOIDS WITH ANTEROPOSTERIOR AXIS

Abstract

Human pluripotent stem cells are capable of differentiation towards neural lineages with self-organizing capability. Recent advances in 3D culture techniques further improved the modeling of human neurodevelopment with the formation of neural organoids that can better resemble the complex architecture of the developing nervous system. However, current neural organoid models lack consistency in tissue architecture, preventing them from modeling human neurodevelopment on a broader spatial level. In development in vivo, neural tissue is patterned in an orderly and predictable manner along major axes of the body. The anteroposterior (AP) axis is the primary axis along which the neural tube regionalizes and elongates. Formation of the AP axis in the neural tissues results from dynamic interplay between germ layers. The objective of this study is to demonstrate AP patterning of organized human neuroepithelium tissues facilitated by surrounding mesendoderm tissues on a micropatterned platform.