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Arnaldi P, Casarotto E, Relucenti M, Bellese G, Gagliani MC, Crippa V, Castagnola P, Cortese K. A NSC-34 cell line-derived spheroid model: Potential and challenges for in vitro evaluation of neurodegeneration. Microsc Res Tech 2024. [PMID: 38988205 DOI: 10.1002/jemt.24651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 06/27/2024] [Accepted: 06/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) spheroid models aim to bridge the gap between traditional two-dimensional (2D) cultures and the complex in vivo tissue environment. These models, created by self-clustering cells to mimic a 3D environment with surrounding extracellular framework, provide a valuable research tool. The NSC-34 cell line, generated by fusing mouse spinal cord motor neurons and neuroblastoma cells, is essential for studying neurodegenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), where abnormal protein accumulation, such as TAR-DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), occurs in affected nerve cells. However, NSC-34 behavior in a 3D context remains underexplored, and this study represents the first attempt to create a 3D model to determine its suitability for studying pathology. We generated NSC-34 spheroids using a nonadhesive hydrogel-based template and characterized them for 6 days. Light microscopy revealed that NSC-34 cells in 3D maintained high viability, a distinct round shape, and forming stable membrane connections. Scanning electron microscopy identified multiple tunnel-like structures, while ultrastructural analysis highlighted nuclear bending and mitochondria alterations. Using inducible GFP-TDP-43-expressing NSC-34 spheroids, we explored whether 3D structure affected TDP-43 expression, localization, and aggregation. Spheroids displayed nuclear GFP-TDP-43 expression, albeit at a reduced level compared with 2D cultures and generated both TDP-35 fragments and TDP-43 aggregates. This study sheds light on the distinctive behavior of NSC-34 in 3D culture, suggesting caution in the use of the 3D model for ALS or TDP-43 pathologies. Yet, it underscores the spheroids' potential for investigating fundamental cellular mechanisms, cell adaptation in a 3D context, future bioreactor applications, and drug penetration studies. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: 3D spheroid generation: NSC-34 spheroids, developed using a hydrogel-based template, showed high viability and distinct shapes for 6 days. Structural features: advanced microscopy identified tunnel-like structures and nuclear and mitochondrial changes in the spheroids. Protein dynamics: the study observed how 3D structures impact TDP-43 behavior, with altered expression but similar aggregation patterns to 2D cultures. Research implications: this study reveals the unique behavior of NSC-34 in 3D culture, suggests a careful approach to use this model for ALS or TDP-43 pathologies, and highlights its potential in cellular mechanism research and drug testing applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pietro Arnaldi
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Cellular Electron Microscopy Lab, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Elena Casarotto
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences "Rodolfo Paoletti", Department of Excellence 2018-2027, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Michela Relucenti
- Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Grazia Bellese
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Cellular Electron Microscopy Lab, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Maria Cristina Gagliani
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Cellular Electron Microscopy Lab, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Valeria Crippa
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences "Rodolfo Paoletti", Department of Excellence 2018-2027, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Katia Cortese
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Cellular Electron Microscopy Lab, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
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Carraro C, Montgomery JV, Klimmt J, Paquet D, Schultze JL, Beyer MD. Tackling neurodegeneration in vitro with omics: a path towards new targets and drugs. Front Mol Neurosci 2024; 17:1414886. [PMID: 38952421 PMCID: PMC11215216 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2024.1414886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 07/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Drug discovery is a generally inefficient and capital-intensive process. For neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), the development of novel therapeutics is particularly urgent considering the long list of late-stage drug candidate failures. Although our knowledge on the pathogenic mechanisms driving neurodegeneration is growing, additional efforts are required to achieve a better and ultimately complete understanding of the pathophysiological underpinnings of NDDs. Beyond the etiology of NDDs being heterogeneous and multifactorial, this process is further complicated by the fact that current experimental models only partially recapitulate the major phenotypes observed in humans. In such a scenario, multi-omic approaches have the potential to accelerate the identification of new or repurposed drugs against a multitude of the underlying mechanisms driving NDDs. One major advantage for the implementation of multi-omic approaches in the drug discovery process is that these overarching tools are able to disentangle disease states and model perturbations through the comprehensive characterization of distinct molecular layers (i.e., genome, transcriptome, proteome) up to a single-cell resolution. Because of recent advances increasing their affordability and scalability, the use of omics technologies to drive drug discovery is nascent, but rapidly expanding in the neuroscience field. Combined with increasingly advanced in vitro models, which particularly benefited from the introduction of human iPSCs, multi-omics are shaping a new paradigm in drug discovery for NDDs, from disease characterization to therapeutics prediction and experimental screening. In this review, we discuss examples, main advantages and open challenges in the use of multi-omic approaches for the in vitro discovery of targets and therapies against NDDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caterina Carraro
- Systems Medicine, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
- Genomics and Immunoregulation, Life & Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Jessica V. Montgomery
- Systems Medicine, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
| | - Julien Klimmt
- Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Dominik Paquet
- Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany
| | - Joachim L. Schultze
- Systems Medicine, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
- Genomics and Immunoregulation, Life & Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- PRECISE, Platform for Single Cell Genomics and Epigenomics at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the University of Bonn and West German Genome Center, Bonn, Germany
| | - Marc D. Beyer
- Systems Medicine, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
- PRECISE, Platform for Single Cell Genomics and Epigenomics at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the University of Bonn and West German Genome Center, Bonn, Germany
- Immunogenomics & Neurodegeneration, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
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Buchman AS. Untangling a taxonomy of living from the science of the continuum of life. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2024; 55:101345. [PMID: 38223539 PMCID: PMC10783655 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2023.101345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Medical innovation and technologic advances enrich daily living and occur within our normative worlds, that are socially constructed. These advances confront society with critical questions about the nature of human life, laying bare the inadequacies of extant norms and boundaries. Yet, society has been unable to develop consensus about when life ends. Scientific studies highlight that life is best characterized by continua without natural boundaries. Thus, scientific information alone cannot be employed to justify the socially constructed health categories required for setting norms and boundaries. An iterative process that integrates a broad range of non-scientific data with advancing scientific information is needed to facilitate consensus for updating social norms and boundaries. This can lead to a new taxonomy of living across the measurable continuum of life and align our normative worlds with the dizzying pace of medical innovation and advances in technologies transforming the world in which we live.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aron S Buchman
- Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
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Zhe M, Wu X, Yu P, Xu J, Liu M, Yang G, Xiang Z, Xing F, Ritz U. Recent Advances in Decellularized Extracellular Matrix-Based Bioinks for 3D Bioprinting in Tissue Engineering. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 16:3197. [PMID: 37110034 PMCID: PMC10143913 DOI: 10.3390/ma16083197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting has been widely utilized as a novel manufacturing technique by more and more researchers to construct various tissue substitutes with complex architectures and geometries. Different biomaterials, including natural and synthetic materials, have been manufactured into bioinks for tissue regeneration using 3D bioprinting. Among the natural biomaterials derived from various natural tissues or organs, the decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) has a complex internal structure and a variety of bioactive factors that provide mechanistic, biophysical, and biochemical signals for tissue regeneration and remodeling. In recent years, more and more researchers have been developing the dECM as a novel bioink for the construction of tissue substitutes. Compared with other bioinks, the various ECM components in dECM-based bioink can regulate cellular functions, modulate the tissue regeneration process, and adjust tissue remodeling. Therefore, we conducted this review to discuss the current status of and perspectives on dECM-based bioinks for bioprinting in tissue engineering. In addition, the various bioprinting techniques and decellularization methods were also discussed in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man Zhe
- Animal Experiment Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Xinyu Wu
- West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Peiyun Yu
- LIMES Institute, Department of Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior, University of Bonn, Carl-Troll-Str. 31, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Jiawei Xu
- Orthopedic Research Institute, Department of Orthopedics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Ming Liu
- Orthopedic Research Institute, Department of Orthopedics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Guang Yang
- Animal Experiment Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Zhou Xiang
- Orthopedic Research Institute, Department of Orthopedics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Fei Xing
- Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Biomatics Group, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Ulrike Ritz
- Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Biomatics Group, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
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