journal article·2026-07-14Open access

Intravital Multimodal Imaging of Human Cortical Organoid Transplantation in a Mouse Model of Chronic Stroke

Jinghui Wang, Guanda Qiao, Honglin Tan, Colleen Russel, Baixuan Yang, Mengyang Jacky Li, Kexin Wang, Jiadi Xu, Chengyan Chu, Miroslaw Janowski, Tian‐Ming Fu, Piotr Walczak, Yajie Liang

Abstract

ABSTRACT Chronic stroke poses enduring neurological deficits, while experimental strategies based on human induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived cortical organoids (COs) remain limited by the lack of tools for longitudinal in vivo graft monitoring. Here, we introduce the Multimodal Imaging Platform for Organoid Tracking (MIPOT), integrating MRI, bioluminescence imaging, surgical microscopy, and intravital two‐photon fluorescence microscopy to monitor CO transplantation in chronic stroke lesions in mice. MIPOT enabled confirmation of initial graft placement within cleaned infarct cavities, longitudinal assessment of viability‐associated bioluminescence signals, and high‐resolution visualization of graft‐derived cells and short‐term cellular dynamics. Bioluminescence imaging revealed a progressive decline in graft‐associated signals that stabilized at approximately 25% by two weeks, while endpoint histology confirmed limited persistence of human graft‐derived cells at later time points. Together, MIPOT provides a multimodal framework for monitoring organoid transplantation in the injured brain and supports future optimization of graft survival, maturation, and host–graft integration.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Pluripotent Stem Cells Research · Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms · 3D Printing in Biomedical Research

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Princeton University Princeton NJ USA

Department of Biomedical Engineering Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD USA

F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging Kennedy Krieger Research Institute Baltimore MD USA

Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore MD USA

Omenn Darling Bioengineering Institute Princeton University Princeton NJ USA

Funding

National Institutes of Health · Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund · National Science Foundation

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