Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived brain organoids can recapitulate the complex cytoarchitecture of the brain as well as the genetic and epigenetic footprint of human brain development. Although the brain organoids are able to mimic the structures and functions of brain in vitro, the 3D models have difficulty in integrating a complex vascular network that can provide the interaction with organoids. Here we report on a microfluidicbased three-dimensional, vascularized cortical organoid tissue construct consisting of 1) a perfused micro-vessel against an extracellular matrix (ECM), dynamic flow and membrane-free culture of the endothelial layer, 2) a sprouted vascular network using a combination of angiogenic factors, and 3) a vascularized hiPSCderived cortical organoid. We report on an optimization of density/stiffness of ECM to induce angiogenic sprouting and effect of angiogenic factors to trigger robust, rapid, and directional angiogenesis for concentration-driven and repetitive sprout formation. Vascularized network in the microfluidic device was further characterized in terms of morphology, directional alignment under perfusion, lumen formation, and permeability. HiPSCderived cortical organoid was generated, placed, and integrated into a vascularized network in the vascularized microfluidic device. We investigate how vascularized micro-vessels interact with cortical organoid. This paper further demonstrates the potential utility of a membrane-free vascularized cortical organoid in perfusion used to model Alzheimer’s disease and for toxicity screening of nerve agents. 
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                    This content will become publicly available on June 12, 2026
                            
                            Rapid model-guided design of organ-scale synthetic vasculature for biomanufacturing
                        
                    
    
            Our ability to produce human-scale biomanufactured organs is limited by inadequate vascularization and perfusion. For arbitrarily complex geometries, designing and printing vasculature capable of adequate perfusion poses a major hurdle. We introduce a model-driven design platform that demonstrates rapid synthetic vascular model generation alongside multifidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations and three-dimensional bioprinting. Key algorithmic advances accelerate vascular generation 230-fold and enable application to arbitrarily complex shapes. We demonstrate that organ-scale vascular network models can be generated and used to computationally vascularize >200 engineered and anatomic models. Synthetic vascular perfusion improves cell viability in fabricated living-tissue constructs. This platform enables the rapid, scalable vascular model generation and fluid physics analysis for biomanufactured tissues that are necessary for future scale-up and production. 
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                            - Award ID(s):
- 2310909
- PAR ID:
- 10631514
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science
- Volume:
- 388
- Issue:
- 6752
- ISSN:
- 0036-8075
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1198 to 1204
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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