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Alzheimer's in 3D culture: Challenges and perspectives
Author(s) -
D'Avanzo Carla,
Aronson Jenna,
Kim Young Hye,
Choi Se Hoon,
Tanzi Rudolph E.,
Kim Doo Yeon
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.201500063
Subject(s) - neuroscience , drug discovery , stem cell , disease , biology , dementia , drug development , medicine , drug , pathology , bioinformatics , microbiology and biotechnology , pharmacology
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, and there is currently no cure. The “β‐amyloid cascade hypothesis” of AD is the basis of current understanding of AD pathogenesis and drug discovery. However, no AD models have fully validated this hypothesis. We recently developed a human stem cell culture model of AD by cultivating genetically modified human neural stem cells in a three‐dimensional (3D) cell culture system. These cells were able to recapitulate key events of AD pathology including β‐amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. In this review, we will discuss the progress and current limitations of AD mouse models and human stem cell models as well as explore the breakthroughs of 3D cell culture systems. We will also share our perspective on the potential of dish models of neurodegenerative diseases for studying pathogenic cascades and therapeutic drug discovery.