From cell fate to disease modifiers: stem cells, organoids, and precision models of brain disorders

This Research Topic welcomes submissions on the use of stem cell and organoid systems to study neural development and brain disease, focusing on how cell fate regulation, lineage commitment, and state transitions influence disease phenotypes in human neural systems. Human stem cell-based models now make it possible to examine neural lineage specification, maturation, and dysfunction in systems that reflect key aspects of human biology, and to investigate the molecular and cellular factors that influence disease onset, progression, and variability.Key themes include:Human stem cell and organoid models of neural development and disease, including methodological innovations and advanced multi-lineage systemsNeural lineage commitment, cell fate determination, and state transitions in health and diseaseGenetic, molecular, and microenvironmental mechanisms driving disease phenotypes, including differentiation barriers and pathological cell statesFunctional genomics, precision medicine, and translational applications in human neural systemsWe welcome studies using stem cell-based neural models to investigate differentiation, reprogramming, maturation, and cell-state transitions, as well as work on the genetic, epigenetic, and post-transcriptional mechanisms behind disease phenotypes, including microRNA regulation, somatic instability, and genetic modifiers that help explain selective vulnerability and variation in disease course.We also welcome precision disease-modelling approaches: pluripotent stem cells, direct reprogramming, cerebral organoids, and patient-derived iPSC models of neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric conditions, including allele-specific editing, CRISPR-based methods, and integration-free reprogramming where these clarify disease mechanisms or support translational work.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:Human stem cell–based models of neural development and diseasePluripotent stem cell models of neural development and diseasePatient-derived iPSC models for brain disordersNeural lineage, cell fate, and state transitionsNeural lineage specification, maturation, and disease-relevant cell statesDirect reprogramming and neural lineage conversionBrain organoid and multi-lineage systemsCerebral organoids and other brain organoid systemsIntegrated neuronal, glial, and microglial modelsMolecular and genetic regulators of disease phenotypesMicroRNA and post-transcriptional regulation in neural systemsGenetic modifiers of neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disordersFunctional genomics and precision approachesAllele-specific editing and CRISPR-based approaches in neurological and psychiatric disordersDisease-focused applications in human neural modelsStem cell and organoid studies in neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disordersMethodological advances in neural stem cell and organoid systemsMethodological advances that improve reproducibility, maturation, scalability, or translational relevance in neural stem cell and organoid systems, particularly where such advances enable improved biological insight or disease modelling Topic editors: Yukyeong Lee, Roberta Azzarelli Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84442/from-cell-fate-to-disease-modifiers-stem-cells-organoids-and-precision-models-of-brain-disorders