There is a strong need to model human neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease with induced neurons (ineurons) in cell culture. In vitro models are powerful tools to screen the therapeutic potential of small molecules. iNeurons grown in vitro advantageously replace animal experimentation in terms of cost, animal suffering and in some cases are the only alternative in absence of a better animal model. Different strategies are available to produce human neurons, either by going through pluripotent stem cells intermediates or by direct reprogramming of somatic cells.

For added stability in cell culture, the ineurons obtained are grown on biodegradable gels specifically designed for long term cell culture.  This system is intermediate in complexity between laminin-coated petri dishes and organoids, also called mini-brains. The gels adequately support the growth of neurons in presence of compounds of therapeutic interest.

During the procedure, neurons can be additionally engineered to accumulate aggregates of insoluble proteins inside intracytoplasmic deposits that mimic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer or Parkinson’s diseases. We are working on producing neurons with deposits containing TDP-43 aggregates, a marker of ALS, or misfolded Tau aggregates, similar to those in Alzheimer’s disease. These deposits are tagged with fluorescents molecules or Quantum dots, to follow their clearance from neurons in vitro, while under the exposure of various small molecules.

Any biotechnology company or academic laboratory interested in testing their own compounds may contact us at info@nextgenerationneurons.com