ERRATA
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Neural organoid technology has emerged as a revolutionary tool in personalized medicine, particularly in the field of neurosurgery. These three-dimensional, brain-like structures derived from human pluripotent stem cells closely mimic key aspects of human brain development and function. Neural organoids offer unprecedented opportunities for disease modeling, drug testing, and personalized surgical planning, particularly for conditions like epilepsy and neurodegenerative disorders. This review explores the development, applications, and future potential of neural organoids in personalized neurosurgical treatments. Neural organoids self-organize into brain regions, allowing them to simulate the architecture and functionality of the human brain, including the formation of neurons, glial cells, and progenitor cells. These models can be generated from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), providing individualized platforms for studying rare neurological disorders, testing therapies, and improving surgical precision. In epilepsy, for example, patient-derived organoids have been used to model seizure activity, enabling more accurate identification of seizure foci for surgical resection. Similarly, neural organoids have been instrumental in studying the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases, including the formation of pathological structures like amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease, facilitating the development of targeted treatments. Beyond modeling neurological conditions, neural organoids are pivotal in drug discovery, offering a human-relevant platform for high-throughput drug screening. In vitro testing of potential therapies on organoids has led to the identification of promising compounds for further clinical trials. Additionally, neural organoids are being used to assess the efficacy of gene therapies aimed at correcting genetic mutations responsible for diseases like Parkinson’s and specific forms of epilepsy. The ability to manipulate these patient-derived models provides critical insights into the potential success of therapies before clinical application. The future of neural organoids in neurosurgery extends to regenerative medicine, where their use in repairing damaged brain tissue due to stroke or trauma holds potential. However, challenges such as the lack of vascularization and ethical concerns surrounding organoid complexity require ongoing research. As neural organoids continue to evolve, they are poised to become indispensable tools in both basic research and clinical neurosurgical practice, offering personalized approaches to some of the most challenging neurological disorders.
Authors: Farooq, Mustafa, Mehra, Mehul, Nguyen, Khoi
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6930807120
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