Understanding immune-driven brain aging by human brain organoid microphysiological analysis platform

Abstract

The aging of the immune system drives systemic aging and the pathogenesis of age-related diseases. However, a significant knowledge gap remains in understanding immune-driven aging, especially in brain aging, due to the limited current in vitro models of neuro-immune interaction. Here we report the development of a human brain organoid microphysiological analysis platform (MAP) to discover the dynamic process of immune-driven brain aging. We create the organoid MAP by 3D printing that can confine organoid growth and perfuse oxygen and nutrients (and immune cells) to generate standardized human cortical organoids that promote viability, maturation, and commitment to human forebrain identity. Dynamic rocking flow is incorporated for the platform that allows us to perfuse primary monocytes from young (20 to 30-year-old) and aged (>60-year-old) donors and culture human cortical organoids for modeling and analyzing the aged immune cell interacting organoid tissues systematically. We discovered the aged monocytes had increased infiltration and promoted the expression of aging-related markers (e.g., p16 in astrocytes neighboring to monocytes) within human cortical organoids, indicating that aged monocytes may drive brain aging. We believe that our human brain organoid MAP provides promising solutions for basic research and translational applications in aging, neuroimmunological diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancers.