Brain organoids: An innovative model for central nervous system diseases in neurosurgery

Central nervous system (CNS) plays an important role in regulating sensory perception, cognition, motor control, and homeostasis. However, these functions can be impaired by diseases such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), and Parkinson’s disease (PD), thereby reducing life quality. Traditional experimental models fall short in capturing CNS pathology. Brain organoids (BOs), derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells, replicate human brain structure and function, offering new insights into CNS diseases. TBI-induced neural death and neuroinflammation can be modeled using BOs but further refinement is required to mirror complex brain architecture. For GBM, BOs provide insights into the tumor microenvironment and glioblastoma stem cells behavior, aiding drug screening. In PD research, BOs replicate dopaminergic neuron loss, but long-term stability and reproducibility remain challenging. While BOs offer improved insight into CNS pathology, key challenges remain, including the need for better simulation of brain complexity, long-term stability, and reproducibility. In this review, we focus on the application of BOs in modeling neurological diseases related to neurosurgical practice. We also discuss their application scenarios, construction strategies, and clinical relevance, aiming to provide a reference for further research on organoid-based models, addressing the limitations of traditional models.