There is a lack of effective medicines for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. This challenge is also coupled with a lack of validated preclinical models, which is limiting drug development and successful progression to clinical trial. Over the past decade, considerable effort has been devoted to improving in vitro preclinical models of the central nervous system (CNS) to more accurately replicate brain structure and function.
One promising direction includes the development of complex 3D models such as bio-printed models which more closely mimic the intricate cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions observed in vivo. Increasing evidence suggests that 3D models more effectively reproduce the pathological processes of neurodegenerative diseases when compared to traditional 2D systems, making them potentially more predictive and valuable for translational drug discovery.
Poster
View the poster here
