Human neuromuscular organoids mimic cancer-induced muscle cachexia.

ABSTRACT: Cancer cachexia, a devastating metabolic wasting syndrome affecting up to 80% of solid cancer patients, remains incurable despite advances in tumor biology understanding. This study introduces neuromuscular organoids (NMOs) derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) as a platform to investigate cancer-driven muscle cachexia. We found that NMOs respond well to atrophic stimuli and replicate the key features of cancer cachexia when treated with conditioned media derived from cachexia-inducing cancer cells. Specifically, cachectic NMOs showed muscle mass loss, impairment of muscle contraction, alteration of intracellular calcium homeostasis, appearance of mitochondrial dysfunction with a metabolic shift, and enhancement of autophagy. Based on these results, we propose NMOs der

SUBMITTER: Chiolerio P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12946742 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature