Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 02129, USA.
Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 02129, USA.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2018 Jan;7(1). doi: 10.1002/adhm.201700723. Epub 2017 Aug 28.
Deciphering the human brain pathophysiology remains one of the greatest challenges of the 21 century. Neurological disorders represent a significant proportion of diseases burden; however, the complexity of the brain physiology makes it challenging to model its diseases. Simple in vitro models have been very useful for precise measurements in controled conditions. However, existing models are limited in their ability to replicate complex interactions between various cells in the brain. Studying human brain requires sophisticated models to reconstitute the tangled architecture and functions of brain cells. Recently, advances in the development of three-dimensional (3D) brain cell culture models have begun to recapitulate various aspects of the human brain physiology in vitro and replicate basic disease processes of Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and microcephaly. In this review, we discuss the progress, advantages, limitations, and future directions of 3D cell culture systems for modeling the human brain development and diseases.
解析人类大脑的病理生理学仍然是 21 世纪最大的挑战之一。神经疾病是疾病负担的重要组成部分；然而，大脑生理学的复杂性使得对其疾病建模具有挑战性。简单的体外模型在受控条件下进行精确测量非常有用。然而，现有的模型在复制大脑中各种细胞之间复杂相互作用的能力方面存在局限性。研究人类大脑需要复杂的模型来重建脑细胞纠结的结构和功能。最近，三维（3D）脑细胞培养模型的发展取得了进展，开始在体外再现人类大脑生理学的各个方面，并复制阿尔茨海默病、肌萎缩性侧索硬化症和小头畸形的基本疾病过程。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了用于模拟人类大脑发育和疾病的 3D 细胞培养系统的进展、优势、局限性和未来方向。
