A Patterned Human Neural Tube Model Using Microfluidic Gradients. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38408487/)

These scientists wanted to understand how the human nervous system develops in the early stages of life. They knew that studying the development of the nervous system is very important because it is a complex and organized part of our body. In the past, scientists have studied animals to learn about how the nervous system forms.

Recently, new methods using human stem cells have been developed to create models that mimic the development of the nervous system. However, these models were not able to fully replicate the way the nervous system forms in both the front-back and top-bottom directions.

So, the scientists created a tiny structure called a microfluidic neural tube-like structure (muNTLS) using human stem cells. This structure was able to show how different parts of the nervous system develop, such as the brain and spinal cord, in a more accurate way. They also made another structure called microfluidic forebrain-like structures (muFBLS) to study the development of specific regions of the brain.

By using these structures, the scientists were able to see how different types of cells in the nervous system develop and organize themselves. This helps them understand how the human nervous system forms and how it might be affected by diseases. These new models offer a promising way to study human brain development and diseases in the future.

Xue X., Kim YS., Ponce-Arias AI., O'Laughlin R., Yan RZ., Kobayashi N., Tshuva RY., Tsai YH., Sun S., Zheng Y., Liu Y., Wong FCK., Surani A., Spence JR., Song H., Ming GL., Reiner O., Fu J. A Patterned Human Neural Tube Model Using Microfluidic Gradients. Nature. 2024 Feb 26. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07204-7.