Ace Therapeutics provides multicellular model development and analysis services for the study of various psychiatric disorders. We are dedicated to helping you understand the mechanisms of biological processes related to signal transduction, transmembrane transport, cellular metabolism, and protein interactions in psychiatric pathology, thereby helping you identify biomarkers and unravel the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders.

Introduction of Multicellular Model Development for Psychiatric Disorders

Mental illnesses are associated with significant economic, social, and personal burdens. As a group, they account for 13% of the global burden of disease and are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Recent advances in genetics and stem cell biology offer new perspectives for cell-based modeling of mental disorders. Multicell culture techniques have made advances in understanding neural circuits and neurotransmitters, particularly relevant to understanding psychiatry and psychotropic drugs. Multicellular models can also be used to decode the effects of genetic variants on pathological brain development leading to psychiatric disorders.

Fig. 1 Comparison of in vitro and animal modelling platforms for preclinical research. (Dixon TA, et al., 2023)

Multicellular Model Development Services

• Neural Rosette Development for Psychiatric Disorders
  We provide multicellular models for in vitro studies of psychiatric disorders that mimic human neural tube formation, including 3D hPSC, hESC, or iPSC-derived neural rosettes. our neural rosettes largely encapsulate neural tube development and the unrestricted differentiation potential of these cells in the neural lineage.
• Neurosphere Development for Psychiatric Disorders
  We use 3D neurospheres of iPSC-derived material to create more biologically relevant cell systems to help you with anti-psychotic drug screening. In addition, we offer any combination of hybrid neuronal cells (available in multiple isoforms) and astrocytes to generate the brain region-specific neurospheres you want for high-throughput assays, including calcium imaging.
• Cell Co-Culture Development for Psychiatric Disorders
  We offer stem cell-based co-culture model development and analysis services. We typically use multiple cell types with various iPSC-derived neural and glial (non-neuronal) cells to establish co-cultures of multiple cell types to elucidate autonomic and non-autonomic cellular responses to neuropsychiatric disease pathology.
• Brain Organoid Development for Psychiatric Disorders
  Our organoid development platform combines cutting-edge technology with a 3D biology approach to address key challenges in expanding complex psychiatric pathology. We provide end-to-end solutions to standardize the organoid development process from cell culture, processing, and incubation to imaging, analysis, and data processing to deliver accurate study results at scale.

Related Analysis Services

Ace Therapeutics provides not only cell model development services, but also cell-based analysis services. Our analytical services help you identify potential changes in brain pathology associated with psychiatric disorders.

• Gene expression (transcriptomics) and protein expression (proteomics) analysis of iPSC-derived mature neurons and glial cultures: for the study of brain development and processes associated with adult neurogenesis, such as some aspects of memory and learning.
• Cellular analysis of neurodevelopment, cell migration, cytoskeletal dynamics, and synaptogenesis: for analyzing the fundamental processes that build and remodel the brain for neurogenesis.
• Electrophysiological recordings (e.g., membrane clamp) and calcium analysis: for measuring functional activity.
• Multi-cell interaction analysis: for studying structural interactions in 2D, 3D, and organoid cell co-cultures and at the functional level using multi-electrode and micro-electrode array (MEA) recordings.

Ace Therapeutics is designed to help you discover molecular targets for drug discovery and potential new drugs in drug screening. If you are interested in this service, please make an inquiry to learn how we can support you in your project.

Reference

1. Dixon TA, Muotri AR. Advancing preclinical models of psychiatric disorders with human brain organoid cultures. Mol Psychiatry. 2023, 28(1):83-95.