{"id":852,"date":"2015-08-19T02:05:21","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T02:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kurzweilai.net\/?p=259847"},"modified":"2015-08-19T04:22:23","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T04:22:23","slug":"most-complete-functioning-human-brain-model-to-date-according-to-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2015\/08\/19\/most-complete-functioning-human-brain-model-to-date-according-to-researchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Most complete functioning human-brain model to date, according to researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This image of the lab-grown brain is labeled to show identifiable structures: the cerebral hemisphere, the optic stalk, and the cephalic flexure, a bend in the mid-brain region, all characteristic of the human fetal brain (credit: The Ohio State University)<\/p><\/div>\n

Scientists at The Ohio State University<\/a> have developed a miniature human brain in a dish with the equivalent brain maturity of a five-week-old fetus.<\/p>\n

The brain organoid<\/a>, engineered from adult human skin cells, is the most complete human brain model yet developed, said\u00a0Rene Anand<\/a>, a professor of\u00a0biological chemistry and pharmacology<\/a>\u00a0at Ohio State.<\/p>\n

The lab-grown brain, about the size of a pencil eraser, has an identifiable structure and contains 99 percent of the genes present in the human fetal brain. Such a system will enable ethical and more rapid, accurate testing of experimental drugs before the clinical trial stage. It is intended to advance studies of genetic and environmental causes of central nervous system disorders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt not only looks like the developing brain, its diverse cell types express nearly all genes like a brain,\u201d Anand said. \u201cThe power of this brain model bodes very well for human health because it gives us better and more relevant options to test and develop therapeutics other than [using] rodents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anand reported on his lab-grown brain today (August 18) at the 2015\u00a0Military Health System Research Symposium<\/a>\u00a0in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n

The main thing missing in this model is a vascular system. But what is<\/em> there — a spinal cord, all major regions of the brain, multiple cell types, signaling circuitry and even a retina — has the potential to dramatically accelerate the pace of neuroscience research, said Anand, who is also a professor of neuroscience<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Organoid derivation and development (credit: Rene Anand and Susan McKay)<\/p><\/div>\n

Created from pluripotent stem cells<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn central nervous system diseases, this will enable studies of either underlying genetic susceptibility or purely environmental influences, or a combination,\u201d he said. According to genomic science, “there are up to 600 genes that give rise to autism, but we are stuck there. Mathematical correlations and statistical methods are insufficient in themselves to identify causation. You need an experimental system — you need a human brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anand\u2019s method is proprietary and he has filed an invention disclosure with the university. He said he used techniques to differentiate\u00a0pluripotent stem cells<\/a> into cells that are designed to become neural tissue, components of the central nervous system or other brain regions..<\/p>\n

High-resolution imaging of the organoid identifies functioning neurons and their signal-carrying extensions — axons and dendrites — as well as astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia. The model also activates markers for cells that have the classic excitatory and inhibitory functions in the brain, and that enable chemical signals to travel throughout the structure.<\/p>\n

It takes about 15 weeks to build a model system developed to match the 5-week-old fetal human brain. Anand and\u00a0colleague Susan McKay, a research associate in biological chemistry and pharmacology, let the model continue to grow to the 12-week point, observing expected maturation changes along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we let it go to 16 or 20 weeks, that might complete it, filling in that 1 percent of missing genes. We don\u2019t know yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Models of brain disorders and injury with civilian and military uses<\/strong><\/p>\n

He and McKay have already used the platform to create brain organoid models of Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s diseases and autism in a dish. They hope that with further development and the addition of a pumping blood supply, the model could be used for stroke therapy studies. For military purposes, the system offers a new platform for the study of Gulf War illness, traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n

Anand hopes his brain model could be incorporated into the\u00a0Microphysiological Systems<\/a>\u00a0program, a platform the\u00a0Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency<\/a>\u00a0is developing by using engineered human tissue to mimic human physiological systems.<\/p>\n

Support for the work came from the Marci and Bill Ingram Research Fund for Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Research Fund.<\/p>\n

Anand and McKay are co-founders of a Columbus-based start-up company, NeurXstem<\/a>, to commercialize the brain organoid platform, and have applied for funding from the federal\u00a0Small Business Technology Transfer<\/a>\u00a0program to accelerate its drug discovery applications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists at The Ohio State University have developed a miniature human brain in a dish with the equivalent brain maturity of a five-week-old fetus. The brain organoid, engineered from adult human skin cells, is the most complete human brain model yet developed, said Rene Anand, a professor of biological chemistry and pharmacology at Ohio State. The lab-grown brain, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,49,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech","category-cognitive-scienceneuroscience","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":859,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852\/revisions\/859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}