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Human neuromuscular junction three-dimensional organoid models and the insight in motor disorders
Kejing Zhang1,† , Lei Bai1,† , Wentao Xu1 , Chengyong Shen1,*
1Department of Neurobiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310020, China
These authors contributed equally to this work
*Correspondence to:Chengyong Shen , Email:cshen@zju.edu.cn
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 13, Issue 11, November 2021, 767-773,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjab046
Keyword: neuromuscular junction, organoid, motor disorder

The neuromuscular junction (NMJ), a peripheral synaptic connection between motoneurons and skeletal muscle fibers, controls movement. Dysregulation of NMJs has been implicated in various motor disorders. Because of their large size and easy accessibility, NMJs have been extensively investigated in the neuroscience field and have greatly contributed to our understanding of the fundamental principles of synapses in the central nervous system. Researchers have tried multiple ways to develop models to recreate NMJs. Rapid progress in the research and development of tissue-like organoids has made it possible to produce human NMJ three-dimensional (3D) models in vitro, providing an additional powerful strategy to study NMJs. Here, we introduce the most recent advances of human embryonic stem cell- or induced pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids to model 3D NMJs.