by University of Maryland School of Medicine Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers have developed a technique in laboratory animals to consistently and reproducibly open the blood-brain barrier. This barrier serves as a barricade securing the brain from the external world blocking out certain environmental toxins, but also prevents drug...
The blood-brain barrier wraps blood vessels where they pass through the central nervous system, controlling the passage of cells and molecules into and out of the brain. The blood-brain barrier becomes disrupted with age, allowing unwanted molecules into the brain, where they can spur chronic inflammation and dysfunction contributing to neurodegeneration. Researchers here investigate the response of astrocytes and microglia, supporting...
by Gina Wadas, Johns Hopkins University Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The blood-brain barrier is an essential and meticulous protector of the human body. This highly selective gatekeeper of interlocking endothelial cells forms tight junctions, shielding vulnerable brains cells from toxins in the bloodstream. However, this also means that the BBB blocks many compounds from entering...
NOVEMBER 17TH, 2021 CONN HASTINGS MEDICINE, NANOMEDICINE, NEUROLOGY, NEUROSURGERY Delivering drugs to the brain remains a challenge due to the blood-brain barrier, a specialized endothelial layer that is highly selective in what it permits into the neural tissue beyond. At the University of Texas at Dallas, researchers have developed a technique that allows therapeutics to...
by University of Birmingham Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Nanomaterials found in consumer and health-care products can pass from the bloodstream to the brain side of a blood-brain barrier model with varying ease depending on their shape—creating potential neurological impacts that could be both positive and negative, a new study reveals. Scientists found that metal-based nanomaterials such...
JULY 6TH, 2021 CONN HASTINGS Researchers at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, engineered a blood-brain barrier on a chip using human-derived stem cells. The device closely mimics the blood-brain barrier and allows the researchers to study its function and the effect of drugs without having to use experimental animals. By incorporating sensors,...
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IMAGE: GEORGIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PH.D. STUDENT YUTONG GUO (LEFT) AND HER MENTOR, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR COSTAS ARVANITIS, HAVE DEVELOPED A WAY TO USE ULTRASONICS TO TREAT BRAIN DISEASE. CREDIT: ASHLEY RITCHEY, GEORGIA TECH RNA-based drugs have the potential to change the standard of care for many diseases, making personalized medicine a...
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA IMAGE: A GENETIC CONDITION KNOWN AS 22Q.11.2 DELETION SYNDROME IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASED RISK OF SCHIZOPHRENIA. A PENN VET-LED TEAM FOUND THAT A LEAKY BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER, ALLOWING INAPPROPRIATE IMMUNE INVOLVEMENT CREDIT: COURTESY OF JORGE IVÁN ALVAREZ Like a stern bodyguard for the central nervous sytem, the blood-brain barrier keeps out anything...
TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE IMAGE: Scientists from Japan and the United States have identified a new mechanism of blood-brain barrier degradation in the post-stroke brain, involving acrolein-induced modifications of proheparanase. This discovery could lead to the production of newer and more effective drugs for stroke-related disorders. CREDIT: TOUBIBE FROM PIXABAY Strokes are a leading cause...
In a new study led by the University of Washington School of Medicine, researchers demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 – the pathogen behind COVID-19 disease – can enter the brain of mice, just like many other viruses before it. People who develop COVID-19 often experience intense bodily inflammation called a cytokine storm, which results from the immune system’s overreaction...
