Fluorescent image depicting tight junctions (stained in green) on the multicellular structures' surface. Tight junctions, much like the blood-brain barrier, work to keep external molecules from crossing over.

CHOI-FONG CHO, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL

"Our model takes a new approach to mimic the blood-brain barrier outside of a living system. These miniature spheroids are relatively straightforward to culture, and yet it is able to reproduce many of the key blood-brain barrier properties and functions," lead author Choi-Fong Cho of Brigham and Women's Hospital said in a news release.

See C.-F. Cho et al., “Blood-brain-barrier spheroids as an in vitro screening platform for brain-penetrating agents,” Nature Communications, doi:10.1039/ncomms15623, 2017.

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