- Jo, Junghyun;
- Yang, Lin;
- Tran, Hoang-Dai;
- Yu, Weonjin;
- Sun, Alfred;
- Chang, Ya;
- Jung, Byung;
- Lee, Seung-Jae;
- Saw, Tzuen;
- Xiao, Bin;
- Khoo, Audrey;
- Yaw, Lai-Ping;
- Xie, Jessica;
- Lokman, Hidayat;
- Ong, Wei-Yi;
- Lim, Grace;
- Lim, Kah-Leong;
- Tan, Eng-King;
- Ng, Huck-Hui;
- Je, Hyunsoo
OBJECTIVE: We utilized human midbrain-like organoids (hMLOs) generated from human pluripotent stem cells carrying glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA1) and α-synuclein (α-syn; SNCA) perturbations to investigate genotype-to-phenotype relationships in Parkinson disease, with the particular aim of recapitulating α-syn- and Lewy body-related pathologies and the process of neurodegeneration in the hMLO model. METHODS: We generated and characterized hMLOs from GBA1-/- and SNCA overexpressing isogenic embryonic stem cells and also generated Lewy body-like inclusions in GBA1/SNCA dual perturbation hMLOs and conduritol-b-epoxide-treated SNCA triplication hMLOs. RESULTS: We identified for the first time that the loss of glucocerebrosidase, coupled with wild-type α-syn overexpression, results in a substantial accumulation of detergent-resistant, β-sheet-rich α-syn aggregates and Lewy body-like inclusions in hMLOs. These Lewy body-like inclusions exhibit a spherically symmetric morphology with an eosinophilic core, containing α-syn with ubiquitin, and can also be formed in Parkinson disease patient-derived hMLOs. We also demonstrate that impaired glucocerebrosidase function promotes the formation of Lewy body-like inclusions in hMLOs derived from patients carrying the SNCA triplication. INTERPRETATION: Taken together, the data indicate that our hMLOs harboring 2 major risk factors (glucocerebrosidase deficiency and wild-type α-syn overproduction) of Parkinson disease provide a tractable model to further elucidate the underlying mechanisms for progressive Lewy body formation. ANN NEUROL 2021;90:490-505.