An Organoid Production Platform for Modelling the Human Brain
Welcome to the Applied Organoid Core at the University of Toronto!
We are a fee-for-service facility with custom capabilities to provide organoids, analysis services and training to University of Toronto staff and to external researchers. We operate via cost recovery and / or collaborations.
GENERATION OF HUMAN NEURAL ORGANOIDS FOR MODELLING BRAIN DISEASE AND DEVELOPMENT
•We generate and maintain neural organoids from various in-house healthy human embryonic stem cell (ESC) or induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) and patient iPSC lines for user specified projects
•Robust, consistently uniform production of cerebral organoid models validated from 1 – 9 months of age
•Customized generation of patient donor stem cell derived organoids for disease models also available
APPLICATION AREAS
Vascularized human cerebral organoids
Human models of neurodegenerative disease
Glioblastoma models of disease invasion and progression
Alzheimer's disease
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis & Fronto-Temporal Dementia
Mitochondrial Health in Lung Transplantation
Bipolar disease
Pediatric brain cancer
•Key publications leading to ApOC establishment:
Sivitilli, A. et al. (2020). Robust Production of Uniform Human Cerebral Organoids from Pluripotent Stem Cells. Life Science Alliance, 3 (5) e202000707.
Sivitilli A., Ghiasi, P. et al. (2021). Production of Phenotypically Uniform Human Cerebral Organoids from Pluripotent Stem Cells. Bio-protocol 11(8): e3985.
CLIENT-CENTRIC SERVICES AND CONSULTING FOR SPECIFIC PROJECT NEEDS
Consulting and / or project support for:
•ESC and iPSC pluripotency validations & media adaptations;
•Assistance with experiment design, protocol support and troubleshooting for downstream client-led applications;
•Characterizations via immunofluorescence analysis;
•Genetic analysis service referrals for hESC / hiPSC samples
•Numerous user-led studies / publications have appeared describing applications of ApOC generated human organoid models
LAB-GROWN ORGANOIDS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
FDA Announces Plan to Phase Out Animal Testing Requirement via Replacement with Organoid Models for Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Drugs
APRIL 10, 2025. The FDA recently announced a groundbreaking plan to replace animal testing with human-relevant in vitro methods for phase 1 testing of monoclonal antibodies and other drugs, with aims to improve drug safety, accelerate evaluation processes, and reduce R&D costs and drug prices. Among key approaches are the use of lab-grown human organoids, which promise to bring faster, safer drug development and significant reductions in animal use.