Brain organoid formation on decellularized porcine brain ECM hydrogels
Fig 5
Growth and gene expression of brain organoids embedded in B-ECM hydrogel or Matrigel.
(A) Timeline of experimental steps of human brain organoid maturation embedded in Matrigel or B-ECM hydrogel. (B) Brain organoids (n = 4) on day 10 in Matrigel (top pictures) or B-ECM hydrogel (bottom pictures). On day 40, no significant difference is apparent. White arrows at day 10 point to ventricular-like zones located in the formed neuronal buds White arrowhead at day 40 indicates residual B-ECM hydrogel. Scale bar: 500 μm. (C) Expression of the genes NEST, TUBB3, DCX, MAP2 and GFAP was measured by extraction of RNA from organoids grown in the presence of B-ECM hydrogel (n = 13) or Matrigel (n = 12) in technical triplicates with RT-qPCR. Statistical analysis performed with unpaired t-test. (D) Tissue sections of brain organoids cultured in Matrigel (left panels) or B-ECM hydrogel (right panels) for 40 days were immunostained for neuronal progenitor markers (SOX2, Nestin, PAX6) and mature neuronal markers (DCX, β-Tubulin III, MAP2). Images were taken with a 10x objective (10x, scale bar: 300 μm) and 40x objective (40x, scale bar: 100 μm). DAPI was used as nuclear counterstaining. White arrowheads indicate ventricular-like zones that were chosen for magnification.
