Modeling Parkinson’s disease in midbrain-like organoids

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Lisa M. Smits - , University of Luxembourg (Author)
  • Lydia Reinhardt - , TUD Dresden University of Technology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (Author)
  • Peter Reinhardt - , TUD Dresden University of Technology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, AbbVie (Author)
  • Michael Glatza - , TUD Dresden University of Technology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (Author)
  • Anna S. Monzel - , University of Luxembourg (Author)
  • Nancy Stanslowsky - , Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) (Author)
  • Marcelo D. Rosato-Siri - , EURAC Research (Author)
  • Alessandra Zanon - , EURAC Research (Author)
  • Paul M. Antony - , University of Luxembourg (Author)
  • Jessica Bellmann - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Sarah M. Nicklas - , University of Luxembourg (Author)
  • Kathrin Hemmer - , University of Luxembourg (Author)
  • Xiaobing Qing - , University of Luxembourg (Author)
  • Emanuel Berger - , University of Luxembourg (Author)
  • Norman Kalmbach - , Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) (Author)
  • Marc Ehrlich - , Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (Author)
  • Silvia Bolognin - , University of Luxembourg (Author)
  • Andrew A. Hicks - , EURAC Research (Author)
  • Florian Wegner - , Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) (Author)
  • Jared L. Sterneckert - , iPS Cells and Neurodegenerative Disease (Junior Research Group) (Author)
  • Jens C. Schwamborn - , University of Luxembourg (Author)

Abstract

Modeling Parkinson’s disease (PD) using advanced experimental in vitro models is a powerful tool to study disease mechanisms and to elucidate unexplored aspects of this neurodegenerative disorder. Here, we demonstrate that three-dimensional (3D) differentiation of expandable midbrain floor plate neural progenitor cells (mfNPCs) leads to organoids that resemble key features of the human midbrain. These organoids are composed of midbrain dopaminergic neurons (mDANs), which produce and secrete dopamine. Midbrain-specific organoids derived from PD patients carrying the LRRK2-G2019S mutation recapitulate disease-relevant phenotypes. Automated high-content image analysis shows a decrease in the number and complexity of mDANs in LRRK2-G2019S compared to control organoids. The floor plate marker FOXA2, required for mDAN generation, increases in PD patient-derived midbrain organoids, suggesting a neurodevelopmental defect in mDANs expressing LRRK2-G2019S. Thus, we provide a robust method to reproducibly generate 3D human midbrain organoids containing mDANs to investigate PD-relevant patho-mechanisms.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number5
JournalNPJ Parkinson's disease
Volume5
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2019
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-7688-3124/work/142250026