KSU Biological Sciences Seminar - Understanding human brain development and degeneration using cerebral organoid and human-mouse chimeric brain models
Understanding human brain development and degeneration using cerebral organoid and human-mouse chimeric brain models
Peng Jiang, PhD, Rutgers University
Our research is focused on studying the cellular and molecular basis of human neural development and pathogenesis of neurological disorders by using human patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (a.k.a. iPSCs). We’re interested in a genetic disorder, Down syndrome (DS). DS, caused by triplication of human chromosome 21, is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and the single most common risk factor for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. We have generated human iPSCs from DS patient-derived skin fibroblasts. I will introduce our recent research on creating iPSC-based in vitro cerebral organoid model and in vivo human-mouse chimeric brain model to investigate how aberrant gene expression in DS causes abnormal brain development and intellectual disability, and also how aberrant gene expression leads to accelerated aging and early-onset Alzheimer's disease in DS.
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