Microphysiological Systems for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Central Nervous System

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Pathology

Background:

• Neurodegenerative diseases pose significant challenges in aging populations.
• Current 2D and animal models have limitations in fully replicating human neurodegenerative disease complexity.
• A physiological gap exists between conventional models and human nervous systems, hindering effective preclinical research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce neural microphysiological systems (neural MPS) as an advanced experimental model for neurodegenerative diseases.
• To review the components and fabrication methods for designing neural MPS.
• To discuss future perspectives for enhancing the physiological relevance of neural MPS.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on neural microphysiological systems.
• Analysis of components (cells, materials) used in neural MPS fabrication.
• Discussion of fabrication techniques for neural MPS construction.

Main Results:

• Neural MPS integrate anatomical, biochemical, and pathological aspects of the nervous system.
• Components and fabrication methods for neural MPS are detailed.
• Future directions for improving neural MPS physiological relevance are outlined.

Conclusions:

• Neural MPS represent a promising approach to overcome limitations of conventional models in neurodegenerative disease research.
• Further development of neural MPS can enhance their physiological relevance to native neural systems.
• These advanced models hold potential for bridging the gap between preclinical findings and patient care.