Tufts University researchers have discovered a new technique for generating rapidly-differentiating human neural stem cells for use in a variety of tissue engineering applications, including a three-dimensional model of the human brain, according to a paper published today in Stem Cell Reports. The work could pave the way for experiments that engineer other innervated tissues, such as the skin and cornea, and for the development of human brain models with diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.
The most recent discovery enabled the researchers to create a working three-dimensional model of the human brain using neurons derived from human cells grown over the same silk and collagen protein scaffold. By imaging those networks, the researchers also were able to see neurons firing back and forth, demonstrating their functionality.