Name: a static self-directed method for generating brain organoids from human embryonic stem cells
Uploaded: 2020-03-04T12:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Static Self-Directed Method for Generating Brain Organoids from Human Embryonic Stem Cells at JoVE.com

We thank the Yale Stem Cell Core (YSCC), and the Yale Cancer Center (YCC) for assistance. We thank Dr. Jung Kim for his neuropathology review. This work was supported by Connecticut Regenerative Medicine Research Fund, March of Dimes, and NHLBI R01HL131793 (S.G.K.), the Yale Cancer Center and the Yale Cancer Biology Training Program NCI CA193200 (E.B.) and a generous unrestricted gift from Joseph and Lucille Madri.

1. Stem Cell Maintenance
<ol>
	<li>Maintain H9 hESCs on a layer of growth factor reduced basement membrane matrix (see the Table of Materials, henceforth simply referred to as matrix) according to the manufacturer&#39;s instructions.
	<ol>
		<li>To coat one 6-well plate or one 10 cm dish, combine 100 &#181;L of matrix with 5.9 mL of ice-cold Dulbecco&#39;s modified Eagle medium (DMEM)/F12 media. Wrap plates in paraffin film and store overnight at 4 &#176;C. Use them on the next day for passaging cells ...

<ol>
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A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cerebral+organoids+model+human+brain+development+and+microcephaly.">Cerebral organoids model human brain development and microcephaly.</a> Nature. 501 (7467), 373-379 (2013).</li><li>Li, X. J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Specification+of+motoneurons+from+human+embryonic+stem+cells.">Specification of motoneurons from human embryonic stem cells.</a> Nature Biotechnology. 23 (2), 215-221 (2005).</li><li>Zhang, S. C., Wernig, M., Duncan, I. D., Brustle, O., Thomson, J. 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A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Matrigel:+a+complex+protein+mixture+required+for+optimal+growth+of+cell+culture.">Matrigel: a complex protein mixture required for optimal growth of cell culture.</a> Proteomics. 10 (9), 1886-1890 (2010).</li><li>Qian, X., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Brain-Region-Specific+Organoids+Using+Mini-bioreactors+for+Modeling+ZIKV+Exposure.">Brain-Region-Specific Organoids Using Mini-bioreactors for Modeling ZIKV Exposure.</a> Cell. 165 (5), 1238-1254 (2016).</li><li>Sloan, S. A., Andersen, J., Pasca, A. M., Birey, F., Pasca, S. 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Similar to other organoid models, this is an artificial system that comes with several caveats. Although there was little batch to batch variation in terms of overall expression levels, individual organoids did exhibit differences. For example, the location of Sox-2 positive areas were not identical in every organoid (Figure 3). While qPCR is suitable to look for overall changes in batches of cells, additional techniques such as single cell RNAseq will be utilized in future studies to gather more informa...

Due to myriad practical and ethical limitations, there has been a great deal of difficulty in studying the human brain. While studies utilizing rodents have been critical to our understanding of the human brain, the mouse brain has many dissimilarities1,2. Interestingly, mice have a neuronal density that is at least 7 times less than the primate brain3,4. Although primates are closer to humans than rodents from an evolutionary standpoint, it is not practical for most researchers to work with them. The purpose of this protocol was to recapitulate many important features of the human brain using a simplified and less expensive method without the need for a heterologous basement membrane matrix or exogenous growth factors while maintaining brain cell diversity and cellular organization.
Formative work from the Sasai lab used the serum free culture of embryoid bodies (SFEBq) method to generate two- and three- dimensional neuronal cell types from signalized embryonic stem cells (ESCs)5,6. Many human brain organoid methods have followed a relatively similar path from signalized ESCs7,8. In contrast, this protocol starts with clusters of detached human ESCs (hESCs), similar to the initial steps of seminal work of the Thomson and Zhang laboratories prior to the plating steps9,10 as well as the initial step of the brain organoid protocol of the Pasca laboratory before the addition of exogenous growth factors11. Basement membrane matrices (e.g., matrigel) have been utilized in many brain organoid protocols and it has been shown to be an effective scaffold8. However, most commonly used basement membrane matrices do not come without complications as they co-purify with unknown quantities of growth factors with batch to batch variability during production12. In addition, these matrices can complicate imaging, and increase the risk of contamination and cost.
While human brain organoids can be used to answer many questions, there are certain limitations to bear in mind. For one, starting from embryonic stem cells, organoids more closely resemble immature brains than aged brains and as such may not be ideal models for diseases that occur in old age, like Alzheimer&#39;s disease. Second, while our protocol found markers of forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain development which are useful to study the effect of a treatment or disease on cells from multiple brain regions in concert, other protocols can be followed to concentrate on specific brain regions13,14. Finally, another limitation of organoid models is that of size, while the average length of a human brain approximately 167 mm, brain organoids made with the use of agitation grow up to 4 mm8 and the organoids formed by this protocol grow to 1-2 mm by 10 weeks. Nonetheless, this protocol provides an important tool to study human brain tissue and the interaction of multiple cell types.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-mouse</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td>A11029</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluor 546 goat anti-rabbit</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td>A11035</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>B27 Supplement</td>
			<td>Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td>17504-044</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>bFGF</td>
			<td>Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA</td>
			<td>PHG0263</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BSA</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA</td>
			<td>A9647</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BX43 microscope</td>
			<td>Olympus, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DAPI stain</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td>D1306</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dispase</td>
			<td>STEMCELL Technologies, Vancouver, Canada</td>
			<td>07913</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMEM/F12</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td>11330-032</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DPBS</td>
			<td>Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td><a href="https://www.thermofisher.com/order/catalog/product/10010023" target="_blank">10010023</a></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FluroSave</td>
			<td>MilliporeSigma, Burlington, MA</td>
			<td>345789</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>GFAP antibody</td>
			<td>NeuroMab, Davis, CA</td>
			<td>N206A/8</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Growth Factor Reduced Matrigel (Matrix)</td>
			<td>Corning, Corning, NY, USA</td>
			<td>356231</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>H9 hESCs</td>
			<td>WiCell, Madison, WI, USA</td>
			<td>WA09</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Heparin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA</td>
			<td>9041-08-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>iQ SYBR Green Supermix</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA</td>
			<td>1708880</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>iScript cDNA Synthesis Kit</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA</td>
			<td>1708891</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-glutamine</td>
			<td>Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td>25030-081</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Monothioglycerol</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA</td>
			<td>M6145</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mTESR media</td>
			<td>STEMCELL Technologies, Vancouver, Canada</td>
			<td>85850</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>N2 NeuroPlex</td>
			<td>Gemini Bio Products, West Sacramento, CA, USA</td>
			<td>400-163</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nanodrop</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td>ND-2000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NEAA</td>
			<td>Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA</td>
			<td>11140-050</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Normal Donkey Serum (NDS)</td>
			<td>ImmunoResearch Laboratories Inc., West Grove, PA, USA</td>
			<td><a href="https://www.jacksonimmuno.com/catalog/products/017-000-121" target="_blank">017-000-121</a></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>OCT</td>
			<td>Sakura Finetek, Torrance, CA, USA</td>
			<td>25608-930</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PFA</td>
			<td>Electron Microscopy Sciences, Hatfield, PA</td>
			<td>RT15710</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>qPCR machine</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad, CFX96, Hercules, CA, USA</td>
			<td>1855196</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RNeasy kit</td>
			<td>Qiagen, Hilden, Germany</td>
			<td>74104</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sox2</td>
			<td>MilliporeSigma, Burlington, MA</td>
			<td>AB5603</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>TMS-F microscope</td>
			<td>Nikon, Melville, NY, USA</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton X-100</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA</td>
			<td>T8787-100ML</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultra-low attachment T75 flasks</td>
			<td>Corning, Corning, NY, USA</td>
			<td>3814</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

a static self-directed method for generating brain organoids from human embryonic stem cells

Human brain organoids differentiated from embryonic stem cells offer the unique opportunity to study complicated interactions of multiple cell types in a three-dimensional system. Here we present a relatively straightforward and inexpensive method that yields brain organoids. In this protocol human pluripotent stem cells are broken into small clusters instead of single cells and grown in basic media without a heterologous basement membrane matrix or exogenous growth factors, allowing the intrinsic developmental cues to shape the organoid&#39;s growth. This simple system produces a diversity of brain cell types including glial and microglial cells, stem cells, and neurons of the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. Organoids generated from this protocol also display hallmarks of appropriate temporal and spatial organization demonstrated by brightfield images, histology, immunofluorescence and real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Because these organoids contain cell types from various parts of the brain, they can be utilized for studying a multitude of diseases. For example, in a recent paper we demonstrated the use of organoids generated from this protocol for studying the effects of hypoxia on the human brain. This approach can be used to investigate an array of otherwise difficult to study conditions such as neurodevelopmental handicaps, genetic disorders, and neurologic diseases.

Figure 1 shows representative brightfield images of several time points to demonstrate what the cells/organoids look like throughout the different stages of the protocol. The hESCs were removed from the tissue culture plate, broken into small pieces, and placed in a T75 ultra-low attachment flask where they formed spheres. It is important to note that the cells look bright and similar in size, without dark, dying cells in the centers of these clusters. The cells were gradually weaned off bFG...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Static Self-Directed Method for Generating Brain Organoids from Human Embryonic Stem Cells at JoVE.com

A Static Self-Directed Method for Generating Brain Organoids from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

This protocol was generated as a means to produce brain organoids in a simplified, low cost manner without exogenous growth factors or basement membrane matrix while still maintaining the diversity of brain cell types and many features of cellular organization.

Human brain organoids differentiated from embryonic stem cells offer the unique opportunity to study complicated interactions of multiple cell types in a ...

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