Introduction During the January TraCe-bMPS progress meeting, Jon Flax presented some interesting findings in the iPSC-derived extended endothelial culture method brain microvascular endothelial cell-like cells (EECM-BMECs, hereafter referred to as BMECs) [1]. While these BMECs tended to have high expression of most transmembrane transport proteins, they had relatively low expression of p-glycoprotein (ABCB1/MDR1) (Figure 1)….
Introduction In prior work by Panteha Torabian and the Michel Lab (RIT’s College of Science), we have seen that treatment of E. coli with different antibiotics can result in changes in the production of bacterial extracellular vesicles (bEVs). In the context of sepsis, this is important because clinicians tend to treat patients with a broad…
Introduction Sepsis refers to an uncontrolled systemic inflammatory response which can result from bacterial blood infections. We have long been interested in developing a sepsis model using the μSiM-BBB platform because the neuroinflammation stemming from sepsis can cause severe BBB disruption. For the majority of our stimulation experiments we have relied on cytomix, a cocktail…
Introduction We are interested in exploring whether certain types of extracellular vesicles (EVs) may be more likely to become trapped while crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Specifically, we are curious if EVs possessing certain types of surface integrins might bind to the vascular basement membrane that surrounds the exterior of brain blood vessels to become…
Introduction The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain chemistry by restricting the permeability of small molecules and cells. Inflammatory diseases may disrupt the BBB and promote the development of neurological disorders [1]. One potential mechanism of BBB disruption is the degradation of the extracellular matrix proteins that make up the vascular…
Introduction The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain chemistry by restricting the permeability of small molecules and cells. Inflammatory diseases may disrupt the BBB and promote the development of neurological disorders [1]. One potential mechanism of BBB disruption is the degradation of the extracellular matrix proteins that make up the endothelial…
Introduction The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain chemistry by restricting the permeability of small molecules and cells. Inflammatory diseases may disrupt the BBB and promote the development of neurological disorders [1]. One potential mechanism of BBB disruption is the degradation of the extracellular matrix proteins that make up the endothelial…
Note: a postscript regarding an assay to determine the activity of our MMP-2/MMP-9 inhibitor was added to this post on June 14, 2021. Introduction The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain chemistry by restricting the permeability of small molecules and cells. Inflammatory diseases may disrupt the BBB and promote the development…
Introduction Mural cells, including smooth muscle cells and pericytes, are important for supporting endothelial cells in the vasculature [1]. They play a role in angiogenesis, and contribute to the development of the vascular basement membrane that provides structure for blood vessels [1,2]. Numerous in vitro models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) have incorporated pericytes alongside…