Human assembloid model of the ascending neural sensory pathway

Ji-il Kim, Kent Imaizumi, Ovidiu Jurjuț, Kevin W. Kelley, Dong Wang, Mayuri Vijay Thete, Zuzana Hudacova, Neal D. Amin, Rebecca J. Levy, Grégory Scherrer and Sergiu P. Pașca ()
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Ji-il Kim: Stanford University
Kent Imaizumi: Stanford University
Ovidiu Jurjuț: Stanford University
Kevin W. Kelley: Stanford University
Dong Wang: Stanford University
Mayuri Vijay Thete: Stanford University
Zuzana Hudacova: Stanford University
Neal D. Amin: Stanford University
Rebecca J. Levy: Stanford University
Grégory Scherrer: University of North Carolina
Sergiu P. Pașca: Stanford University

Nature, 2025, vol. 642, issue 8066, 143-153

Abstract: Abstract Somatosensory pathways convey crucial information about pain, touch, itch and body part movement from peripheral organs to the central nervous system1,2. Despite substantial needs to understand how these pathways assemble and to develop pain therapeutics, clinical translation remains challenging. This is probably related to species-specific features and the lack of in vitro models of the polysynaptic pathway. Here we established a human ascending somatosensory assembloid (hASA), a four-part assembloid generated from human pluripotent stem cells that integrates somatosensory, spinal, thalamic and cortical organoids to model the spinothalamic pathway. Transcriptomic profiling confirmed the presence of key cell types of this circuit. Rabies tracing and calcium imaging showed that sensory neurons connect to dorsal spinal cord neurons, which further connect to thalamic neurons. Following noxious chemical stimulation, calcium imaging of hASA demonstrated a coordinated response. In addition, extracellular recordings and imaging revealed synchronized activity across the assembloid. Notably, loss of the sodium channel NaV1.7, which causes pain insensitivity, disrupted synchrony across hASA. By contrast, a gain-of-function SCN9A variant associated with extreme pain disorder induced hypersynchrony. These experiments demonstrated the ability to functionally assemble the essential components of the human sensory pathway, which could accelerate our understanding of sensory circuits and facilitate therapeutic development.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08808-3

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