Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells Technologies

Studying human oligodendrocytes, which provide insulation for nerve cells, has been challenging. But a new way of generating stem-cell-derived, three-dimensional brain-cell cultures is paying off. For proper brain function, it's crucial that certain neurons be wrapped with myelin, a coating that enhances impulse transmission. Failure can spell outcomes ranging from cerebral palsy to multiple sclerosis. A better understanding of oligodendrocytes, the brain cells that make myelin, might help correct or prevent these diseases. Yet, while cultured neurons have long been scrutinized and manipulated in efforts to pry loose their secrets, studying human oligodendrocytes has been tough. They're born late in brain development, and they're challenging to generate alongside human neurons and other brain cells in a way that recapitulates the complex interactions occurring among these cell types as they develop.

Now, Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have proved that a system they developed a few years ago for culturing balls of stem-cell-derived human brain cells, which mimic aspects of real brain circuitry, can generate oligodendrocytes together with neurons and a third type of brain cell called astrocytes. "We now have multiple cell types interacting in onem single culture," said Sergiu Pasca, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. "This permits us to look close-up at how the main cellular players in the human brain are talking to each other."

A study describing the work was published online Jan. 28 inNature Neuroscience. Pasca, who directs the Stanford Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute's human brain organogenesis program, is the study's senior author. The lead author is graduate student Rebecca Marton.

Reference: https://medicalxpress.com/pdf467969046.pdf