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 systems
Neural lineage commitment, cell fate determination, and state transitions in health and disease
Genetic, molecular, and microenvironmental mechanisms driving disease phenotypes, including differentiation barriers and pathological cell states
Functional genomics, precision medicine, and translational applications in human neural systems
We 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 disease

Pluripotent stem cell models of neural development and disease
Patient-derived iPSC models for brain disorders
Neural lineage, cell fate, and state transitions

Neural lineage specification, maturation, and disease-relevant cell states
Direct reprogramming and neural lineage conversion
Brain organoid and multi-lineage systems

Cerebral organoids and other brain organoid systems
Integrated neuronal, glial, and microglial models
Molecular and genetic regulators of disease phenotypes

MicroRNA and post-transcriptional regulation in neural systems
Genetic modifiers of neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disorders
Functional genomics and precision approaches

Allele-specific editing and CRISPR-based approaches in neurological and psychiatric disorders
Disease-focused applications in human neural models

Stem cell and organoid studies in neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disorders
Methodological advances in neural stem cell and organoid systems

Methodological 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

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Cerebral organoids Patient-derived iPSCs Neural lineage specification Direct reprogramming Genetic modifiers CRISPR-based disease modelling Neurodegeneration

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.