Intravital Multimodal Imaging of Human Cortical Organoids for Chronic Stroke Treatment in Mice

Abstract

Chronic stroke leads to enduring neurological deficits and remains a major clinical challenge. Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cortical organoids (COs) offer promise for regenerative therapies, yet their application in chronic stroke remains understudied, in part due to limited tools for monitoring graft in vivo. Here, we present a Multimodal Imaging Platform for Organoid Tracking (MIPOT), which integrates MRI, bioluminescence imaging, light microscopy, and two-photon fluorescence microscopy to noninvasively track transplanted COs in the post-stroke brain over time. Using MIPOT, we verified precise delivery of COs into cleaned stroke cavities, observed progressive declines in viability within the first 10 days, and introduced labeling methods for functional in vivo tracking of COs at subcellular resolution. By 4 weeks post-transplantation, histological analysis revealed survival of COs in the cerebral cortex. Notably, COs engrafted into the hippocampus displayed enhanced maturation, underscoring the role of local microenvironments in graft integration. MIPOT enables dynamic, noninvasive evaluation of hiPSC COs in chronic stroke, providing a foundation for mechanistic studies and translational development of organoid-based therapies.