About this Research Topic

Background

Neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases form a heterogeneous group of brain dysfunctional disorders with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations that impact newborns/infants and the aging population respectively. Noninvasive techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging and optical coherence tomography, enable the diagnosis of relevant pathologies. While the underlying mechanisms of distinct neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases may vary, they share common anomalies including neuronal dysfunctions and death. Due to the irreversible nature of neuronal death, treatment for late stages of diseases have been ineffective. Therefore, prediction and early detection of diseases would be beneficial for therapeutic purposes.

Discovery of reliable markers for prognosis and early diagnosis of diseases require the elucidation of the underlying mechanisms for disease pathogenesis, identification of associated risk factors, and subsequent evaluation of potential candidates. With the development of high-throughput sequencing technologies, a large number of disease-associated risk factors and/or signaling pathways have been identified. However, their translational potential is still limited as these risk factors/pathways need to be streamlined for therapeutic purposes and their underlying mechanisms require further investigation. This is in part due to the lack of appropriate in vivo and/or in vitro model system in a human context. Recent advances in three-dimensional culture systems, including neurosphere, organoid, and assembloid, together with humanized animal models, should facilitate the translation of potential disease markers for prognosis, diagnosis, and therapies of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases.

We welcome original research articles, technical reports, and reviews covering topics related to advances in statistical genetics as well as in vivo and in vitro systems modeling neurodevelopmental and/or neurodegenerative diseases. We will gladly consider topics including but not limit to the following:
• Innovative methods for identifying and/or detection of early markers of diseases
• Advances in in vivo or in vitro systems modeling neurodevelopmental and/or neurodegenerative diseases
• Development of therapeutic strategies to improve the functions/survival of neurons
• Investigation of underlying mechanisms of disease pathogenesis

Keywords: Neurosphere, organoids, stem cell, 3D culture, gene expression, genetics, inherited retinal degeneration, Usher syndrome, animal models, dementia, autism, sleep disorder, depression, Parkinson’s disease, Joubert syndrome and related disorders, Alzheimer's disease, Hungtington’s disease

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