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Review
. 2017 Mar 15;144(6):952-957.
doi: 10.1242/dev.140707.

Using brain organoids to understand Zika virus-induced microcephaly

Xuyu Qian  1   2 , Ha Nam Nguyen  1   3 , Fadi Jacob  1   4 , Hongjun Song  1   2   3   4   5 , Guo-Li Ming  6   2   3   4   5   7
Affiliations
Review

Using brain organoids to understand Zika virus-induced microcephaly

Xuyu Qian et al. Development. .

Abstract

Technologies to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells into three-dimensional organized structures that resemble in vivo organs are pushing the frontiers of human disease modeling and drug development. In response to the global health emergency posed by the Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak, brain organoids engineered to mimic the developing human fetal brain have been employed to model ZIKV-induced microcephaly. Here, we discuss the advantages of brain organoids over other model systems to study development and highlight recent advances in understanding ZIKV pathophysiology and its underlying pathogenesis mechanisms. We further discuss perspectives on overcoming limitations of current organoid systems for their future use in ZIKV research.

Keywords: Cortex; Microcephaly; Organoids; Zika; iPSC.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests

H.N.N., H.S. and G.-l.M. are co-founders of 3Dnamics.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Comparison of brain cortical organoids with other human stem cell-based models, and summary of key ZIKV-related findings obtained from each system.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Phenotypes of ZIKV-infected forebrain organoids. Schematics of healthy and ZIKV-infected forebrain organoids illustrate the virus-induced phenotypes observed at different levels. ZIKV-infected cells are in green; apoptotic cells are in purple. NPC, neural progenitor cell; VZ, ventricular zone; oRGC, outer radial glial cell; vRGC, ventricular radial glial cell; IPC, intermediate progenitor cell.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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