Lab-grown brain organoids help researchers explore early stages of human brain development

“Here, we [researchers at the University of California, San Diego] used human cortical organoids to study the effects of EtOH on neurogenesis and validated our findings in primary human fetal neurons. EtOH (alcohol) exposure produced temporally dependent cellular effects on proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis. In addition, we identified EtOH-induced alterations in post-translational histone modifications and chromatin accessibility, leading to impairment of cAMP and calcium signaling, glutamatergic synaptic development, and astrocytic function. Proteomic spatial profiling of cortical organoids showed region-specific, EtOH-induced alterations linked to changes in cytoskeleton, gliogenesis, and impaired synaptogenesis. Finally, multi-electrode array electrophysiology recordings confirmed the deleterious impact of EtOH on neural network formation and activity in cortical organoids, which was validated in primary human fetal tissues.”      MORE

Image Credit: UCSD