Human brain organoids developed in the laboratory from immature adult skin were able to functionally connect to a sensory network in vivo (rat brains). The pivotal experiment was recorded by a team of engineers and neuroscientists at the University of California, San Diego.
Although widely theorized, no research team has yet demonstrated that human brain organoids implanted in mouse cortices may share common features or respond to external sensory stimuli. Failure to log events lasting milliseconds surpassed using innovative recording technology.
How researchers recorded human-mouse synapses
To overcome the technical limitation, the UC San Diego team combined two experimental techniques for imaging brain cells. First, the scientists placed a series of transparent graphene electrodes to record neural electrical activity. Both human and rodent cells.
They then used a so-called conventional two-photon excitation microscope to obtain images of living brain tissue up to a millimeter thick. Thus, with simultaneous optical and electrical recordings, researchers noticed that the blood vessels of the mice were transformed into organoidsto provide them with oxygen and nutrients.
In the experiment, the visual stimulus applied was an optical white light LED. The light fell on the mice with the implanted organoids and under a two-photon microscope. Electrical activity was observed in the electrode channels on the organoids, shows that they respond to light like surrounding tissue.
What is the applicability of this study?
It is the expectation of the study authors and the scientific community that this combination of innovative hybrid neural recording technologies can create a unified platform for studying organoids in brain disease research and neural cell implants to restore function of damaged or lost brain regions.
Professor Duygu Kuzum, the lead researcher of the project, said in a statement that in the future “This combination of stem cells and neuro-recording technologies will be used to model diseases under physiological conditions. […]”.
ARTICLE – Nature Communication – DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35536-3.
Source: Tec Mundo
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