Meeting Abstract
Stem cells have the unique potential to differentiate into tissues with specific functional attributes. One of the major questions in developmental biology is to understand what environmental and genetic factors play a role in affecting the fate of stem cell lines. Advances in human stem cell biology have made it possible to grow small clusters of cells, or ‘organoids’ that resemble human physiology of brains in vitro. Our research focuses on growing three-dimensional cultures to model developing nervous systems using induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs). These 3D cultures are referred to as cerebral organoids. The goal of this research is to study gene expression changes in inflammatory genes. Induced human pluripotent stem cells will be utilized to grow cerebral organoids. The organoids will be treated with poly (I+C) +/- indoxyl-3-sulfate (iS3) in order to induce an inflammatory response. Gene expression analysis will be used to study the effects of the inducers. Inflammatory genes IL6, SAA1, AHR, and NOS1, commonly associated with multiple sclerosis and encephalitis, will be specifically examined in this research.
