From Neuronal Differentiation of iPSCs to 3D Neural Organoids: Modeling of Neurodegenerative Diseases

In the last decade, the finding that somatic cells can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) leads to a great improvement of research involving the use of differentiated stem cells as model of diseases. In the field of neurodegeneration, iPSC technology allowed to culture in vitro all the types of patient-specific neurons, not only helping the discovery of diseases’ etiopathology but also testing new drugs with a personalized medicine approach. Moreover, iPSCs can be combined with the 3D bioprinting technology, allowing physiological cell-to-cell interactions, given by a combination of several biomaterials, scaffolds, and cells. This technology combines bioplotter and biomaterials which can encapsulate several types of cells, e.g., iPSCs or differentiated neurons, to develop an innovative cellular model. iPSCs and 3D cell cultures’ technologies represent the first step to obtain a more reliable model, like an organoid to facilitate neurodegenerative diseases’ investigation