In a recent with Jan Carette’s lab, we introduce an #assembloid model for studying neuro-infection with enteroviruses including poliovirus.

The videos below capture the loss of human muscle contraction, which is under the control of spinal cord neurons, after a week of infection.

“Murine models do not consistently replicate human CNS physiology, thereby failing to reflect pathological characteristics such as [neurodegnerative] disease onset or progression accurately.”

“This discrepancy likely arises from inter-species variability in [CNS] complexity, structure, and inflammatory responses, which constrains a complete reproduction of the pathophysiological alterations seen in humans. Unlike other species, human microglia exhibit heterogeneity in transcriptional states.”

“Moreover, significant differences in various gene modules between rodent and primate microglia exist. These differences include genes associated with complement pathways, phagocytosis, and susceptibility to neurodegenerative conditions like AD and Parkinson’s disease.”

By integrating cerebral #organoids with microglia-like cells derived from familial Alzheimer’s disease patient iPSCs, @uthealthhouston.bsky.social scientists developed a neuroimmune #assembloid model that faithfully reproduces Alzheimer's inflammatory hallmarks.

#alzsky #neuroskyence 🧪

This human forebrain #assembloid model by Walsh et al. of the Struder lab, including @luzjubierre.bsky.social captures the molecular and electrophysiological features of primary human PVALB+ interneurons.

(1/2) On Nov. 10-12, scientists, ethicists, policymakers, patient advocates, and science communicators will convene to explore the ethical and societal questions posed by #organoid and #assembloid research.

Hear more from @sergiuppasca.bsky.social in this clip from #NeuroSociety Stories.

UCLA researchers find how epilepsy genes disrupt different brain regions using stem cell models For families of children with severe epilepsy, controlling seizures is often just the beginning of their challenges. Even in cases where powerful medications can reduce seizures, many children continu...

Researchers at @uclastemcell.bsky.social & @dgsomucla.bsky.social created the first human hippocampal #assembloid model, which can be used to study epilepsy as well as neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and other brain disorders.

stemcell.ucla.edu/news/ucla-re...

#devbio #neuroskyence 🧪

Spatial architecture of the human endometrium revealed by CODA-based 3D tissue mapping (A) A human eutopic endometrium obtained from donors with no history of disease was formalin fixed, paraffin embedded and serially sectioned at 4-μm thickness. Every other section was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and scanned at 20× or 40× magnification. (B) A deep-learning model was trained to semantically segment tissue components using manually labeled H&E images from a subset of sections. The primary components of interest were the glandular epithelium and endometrial stroma. (C) 3D reference map of human eutopic endometrium generated using the computational platform CODA. The model was trained and applied to the aligned sections to generate single-cell resolution 3D reconstructions. Endometrial stroma (purple) and glandular epithelium (yellow) are isolated for visualization. A single-cell resolution zoom in of glandular epithelium shows that epithelial ducts are interconnected in 3D.

Sharing their new 3D multi-compartment #endometriosis assembloid model, @deniswirtz.bsky.social & team note that, in addition to the limitations of 2D endo models, "Mouse models are also inadequate, as key endometrial diseases do not naturally occur in mice.”

#organoid #assembloid 🧪

α‐Synuclein Pathology Spreads in a Midbrain–Hindbrain Assembloid Model A novel midbrain–hindbrain assembloid model demonstrates the spread of α-synuclein pathology, a hallmark of Parkinson's disease, mimicking Braak's hypothesis. This model reveals how pathology propaga....

Researchers at @uni.lu & @tue.nl have developed a novel midbrain–hindbrain #assembloid to investigate α-synuclein spreading & #Parkinson's disease (PD) progression—offering a platform to screen potential therapeutics for PD & related synucleinopathies. 🧪

doi.org/10.1002/advs...

Immune-Vascular Forebrain #Organoid #Assembloid to model APOE genotype (ε2/2 vs 3/3 vs 4/4) & #SARSCOV2 infection

Isogenic #hiPSC forebrain neural progenitor➡️neuron astrocyte oligodendrocyte

+hiPSC yolk sac➡️ #EndothelialCell #Pericyte #Microglia

bioRxiv 2025
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Time to celebrate two more postdocs from the Pasca lab who are departing this month to start their own groups– at Johns Hopkins and in Shanghai.

Warmest congratulations Xiao & Jin, and all the best!

Traditional selfie at our lab party with a now classical #assembloid cake (not shown).

Review | Evolving from organoid to assembloid with enhanced cellular interactions
www.sciopen.com/article/10.2...
#organoid #assembloid

This week we welcome on campus 2025 class of students for our hands-on Stanford Brain Organogenesis course.
With students joining from across the globe, this is our most international class yet—diving into cutting-edge neural #organoid and #assembloid methods, ready to bring them back to their labs.

4 days left until the registration deadline for #BaCell3D 2025!

Click here to join us at the forefront of #organoids research:
conferences.unibas.ch/frontend/ind...

#embryoid #assembloid #tumoroid #NAMs #gastruloid #stemcells #tissueengineering #reduce #replace #refine #3Rs #3Dmodels #organonchip

4 days left until the registration deadline for #BaCell3D 2025!

Click here to join us at the forefront of #organoid research:
conferences.unibas.ch/frontend/ind...

#embryoid #assembloid #tumoroid #NAMs #gastruloid #stemcells #tissueengineering #reduce #replace #refine #3Rs #3Dmodels #organonchip

Great lecture by @sergiuppasca.bsky.social on #assembloid @UCL time to generate more assembloid from GI systems… watch this space

#science #neuroskyence #research #neuroscience #organoid #assembloid

Heart #Assembloid Vascularization (+pericyte coverage) & Innervation
1⃣#hiPSC-derived epicardium-myocardium #Organoid + 2⃣Sympathetic neuron #Spheroid

Beautiful vascular network!
Can we further differentiate it into A-C-V microcirculatory unit?😁

bioRxiv 2025
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Image 1, Panel H from the linked preprint by Kostina, et al. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.12.11.627627

Incredible work from the Aguirre lab at MSU. This functional, highly complex human heart #assembloid could shed new light on cardiac development & congenital heart defects, & also serve as a tool for high-throughput drug screening. In @biorxiv-bioeng.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Wrapping up another 🧠 organoid meeting at #cshl

Congratulations to the organizers @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and Guo-Li Ming for assembling another fantastic meeting. Truly an Avengers level effort.

Happy holidays and safe travels to everyone!

#cshlbrain #cshlbrain24 #assembloid

#Pericyte #TunnelingNanoTube

Pericyte-Astrocyte TNT ⏫by #OxygenGlucoseDeprivation
Pericyte-to-Astrocyte Mitochondria transfer occurs on dish (via TNT or direct contact) or in 3D #Assembloid (via TNT or not?🤔), likely⏬Astrocyte Apoptosis

#CellDeathDis 2022
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This spring, we reported in Nature a therapeutic approach for Timothy syndrome

This has been a long journey starting with making hiPS cell-derived neurons in 2D cultured 15 years ago when I was a postdoc & continued with creating in the lab #organoid and then #assembloid models of this disease