2. Academic Validation
  3. Effective cryopreservation of human brain tissue and neural organoids

Effective cryopreservation of human brain tissue and neural organoids

  • Cell Rep Methods. 2024 May 20;4(5):100777. doi: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2024.100777.
Weiwei Xue 1,  Huijuan Li 2,  Jinhong Xu 2,  Xiao Yu 2,  Linlin Liu 2,  Huihui Liu 2,  Rui Zhao 3,  Zhicheng Shao 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institute of Pediatrics, National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: wwxue@fudan.edu.cn.
  • 2 Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institute of Pediatrics, National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
  • 3 Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
  • 4 Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institute of Pediatrics, National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: zcshao@fudan.edu.cn.
PMID: 38744289 DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2024.100777
Abstract

Human brain tissue models and organoids are vital for studying and modeling human Neurological Disease. However, the high cost of long-term cultured organoids inhibits their wide-ranging application. It is therefore urgent to develop methods for the cryopreservation of brain tissue and organoids. Here, we establish a method using methylcellulose, ethylene glycol, DMSO, and Y27632 (termed MEDY) for the cryopreservation of cortical organoids without disrupting the neural cytoarchitecture or functional activity. MEDY can be applied to multiple brain-region-specific organoids, including the dorsal/ventral forebrain, spinal cord, optic vesicle brain, and epilepsy patient-derived brain organoids. Additionally, MEDY enables the cryopreservation of human brain tissue samples, and pathological features are retained after thawing. Transcriptomic analysis shows that MEDY can protect synaptic function and inhibit the endoplasmic reticulum-mediated Apoptosis pathway. MEDY will enable the large-scale and reliable storage of diverse neural organoids and living brain tissue and will facilitate wide-ranging research, medical applications, and drug screening.

Keywords

CP: Stem cell; brain; brain diseases; cryopreservation; ethylene glycol; living brain tissue; methylcellulose; neural organoid.

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