Scientists Create 3D Brain-Like Tissue

Researchers have created a 3D brain-like tissue that mimics functions and structure of a rat brain.

The tissue was developed by scientists at the Tissue Engineering Resource Center in the Tufts University, Boston. The researchers said that the mass of cells can be kept alive for over two months and can be used to study effects of drugs and trauma on brain tissue.

Currently, the researchers have to rely on neurons grown on petri dishes to study how the brain works. However, these neurons are grown in two-dimensional state, which provides limited information of the brain tissue in a complex, 3D structure. The current brain tissue model can help the researchers find how neurons interact in a complex environment.

Brain tissue is comprised of segregated white and grey matter. The grey matter has mostly neuronal cell bodies, while the white matter has primarily axon bundles - axons are projection of neurons. The researchers said that trauma affects both kinds of cells in different ways. The current 3D brain model offers compartmentalized brain structures, which can allow scientists to better understand brain injuries.

"The hope is that use of this model could lead to an acceleration of therapies for brain dysfunction as well as offer a better way to study normal brain physiology," said Dr David Kaplan, of Tufts University, Boston, Telegraph reported. "The fact that we can maintain this tissue for months in the lab means we can start to look at neurological diseases in ways that you can't otherwise because you need long timeframes to study some of the key brain diseases."

To create a 3D model, the researchers used a donut-shaped scaffold, collagen-based gel and rat neurons. The scaffold helped neurons anchor themselves, while the gel allowed the axons to grow.

The team conducted several experiments to test the functionality of the brain network. The researchers found that their 3D model better mimicked function and even structure of rat brain.

NIH's National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering supported the current research. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.