Cell-to-Cell Adhesion and Neurogenesis in Human Cortical Development: A Study Comparing 2D Monolayers with 3D Organoid Cultures

Organoids (ORGs) are increasingly used as models of cerebral cortical development. Here, we compared transcriptome and cellular phenotypes between telencephalic ORGs and monolayers (MONs) generated in parallel from three biologically distinct induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines. Multiple readouts revealed increased proliferation in MONs, which was caused by increased integrin signaling. MONs also exhibited altered radial glia (RG) polarity and suppression of Notch signaling, as well as impaired generation of intermediate progenitors, outer RG, and cortical neurons, which were all partially reversed by reaggregation of dissociated cells. Network analyses revealed co-clustering of cell adhesion, Notch-related transcripts and their transcriptional regulators in a module strongly downregulated in MONs. The data suggest that ORGs, with respect to MONs, initiate more efficient Notch signaling in ventricular RG owing to preserved cell adhesion, resulting in subsequent generation of intermediate progenitors and outer RG, in a sequence that recapitulates the cortical ontogenetic process.