Blood brain barrier in a dish

Wisconsin researchers have used cultured human stem cells to engineer an artificial blood brain barrier.¹ The technology could help companies identify drug candidates that readily enter the brain or that decrease blood brain barrier permeability.

The blood brain barrier (BBB) is a system of transporters and physical barriers in the endothelial cells of the brain vasculature that keeps most foreign molecules out of the brain. Breakdown of the BBB contributes to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) as well as certain forms of epilepsy...