Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
IQS School of Engineering, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain.
Methods Mol Biol. 2022;2492:175-190. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2289-6_10.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) consists of a tight network of blood capillaries in the brain that separate the circulatory system from the central nervous system. Its particular properties are based on the dynamic interaction between cerebral endothelial cells and other surrounding cells, especially astrocytes. We have designed and synthesized a three-dimensional scaffold that recapitulates the main hallmarks of the BBB extracellular matrix and serves as a platform to co-culture human brain microvascular endothelial cells and human cortical astrocytes. The scaffold can be exposed to flow, thereby allowing the study of flow-mediated pathways at the BBB.
血脑屏障（BBB）由大脑中的毛细血管紧密网络组成，将循环系统与中枢神经系统隔开。其特殊性质基于脑内皮细胞和其他周围细胞（尤其是星形胶质细胞）之间的动态相互作用。我们设计并合成了一种三维支架，重现了 BBB 细胞外基质的主要特征，并作为共培养人脑微血管内皮细胞和人脑皮质星形胶质细胞的平台。该支架可以暴露于流动中，从而可以研究 BBB 中的流动介导途径。
