Brain organoid-on-chip: a microfluidic platform to study neocortical development

A human model of neocortical development to understand neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders or intellectual disability is urgently needed.

Neural 2D cultures derived for example from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) have been used for many years but lack the complexity of the tissue environment essential for the functionality of the developing neocortex.

A promising approach to provide controlled microenvironments that generate physiological conditions and allow controlled 3D spatio-temporal structuring is the use of Organ-on-chip (OoC) technology. This BROOC proposal aims to establish a new generation of Brain Organoid-on-Chip.

To study neocortical development and test pharmaceutical interventions, this project will construct new cerebral organoid model with multi-layered cortical structures on microfluidic chip system within integrated electrode array.

Moreover, the Brain Organoid-on-Chip platform has the potential to transform the field and will have many applications especially for studying neurodevelopmental disorders.

By overcoming several drawbacks of currently available cerebral organoid models, it will impact on the emerging field of organoids in general spanning from organoids used as alternative methods for animal experiments to cerebral organoids generated from diverse species used as a tool to study the molecular mechanisms of brain evolution.