Using a new approach, scientists have successfully frozen and thawed brain organoids and cubes of brain tissue from someone with epilepsy, which could enable better research into neurological conditions
By Christa Lesté-Lasserre
15 May 2024
Thawed brain organoids shown via an imaging technique called immunofluorescence staining
Weiwei Xue et al.
A new technique has allowed scientists to freeze human brain tissue so that it regains normal function after thawing, potentially opening the door to improved ways of studying neurological conditions.
Brain tissue doesn’t usually survive freezing and thawing, a problem that has significantly hindered medical research. In an effort to overcome this, Zhicheng Shao at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and his colleagues used human embryonic stem cells to grow self-organising brain samples, known as organoids, for three weeks — long enough for the development of neurons and neural stem cells that can become different kinds of functional brain cells.
The researchers then placed these organoids — which measured 4 millimetres across on average — in different chemical compounds, such as sugars and antifreeze, that they suspected might help keep the brain cells alive while frozen and able to grow after being thawed.
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After storing these organoids in liquid nitrogen for at least 24 hours, the team thawed them and looked for cell death or the growth of neurites — the “branches” of nerve cells — over the following two weeks.
Based on the rates of cell death and growth associated with each compound, the researchers chose their top compound candidates, trying different combinations during freezing and thawing tests on a new set of organoids.