The research team led by scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital in the United States has successfully developed the world's first human "mini" brain containing a fully functional blood brain barrier. This achievement is expected to enhance scientists' understanding of various brain diseases and improve treatment methods, such as stroke, cerebrovascular disease, brain cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Relevant papers were published in the latest issue of Cell Stem Cell.
The process of fusion of two kinds of organs to form human brain like organs containing blood brain barrier
Image source: Cell · Stem Cell
The blood vessels in the brain are covered by a layer of closely packed cells, forming the blood brain barrier. This strictly limits the size of molecules entering the central nervous system from the blood. The blood brain barrier with normal function can effectively block harmful substances and allow essential nutrients to enter the brain, thus maintaining the healthy state of the brain. But the barrier also prevents many potentially beneficial drugs from entering the brain. In addition, when the blood brain barrier is poorly developed or broken, it will lead to or worsen a variety of nervous system diseases.
Previously, no scientific research team has successfully created a brain like organ with a full functional human cerebrovascular barrier. In the latest research, scientists successfully fused a brain like organ with a diameter of 3-4 mm and a vascular like organ with a diameter of about 1 mm to form a sphere with a diameter of slightly more than 4 mm (about the size of sesame seeds). This new structure is called "blood brain barrier (BBB) assembly".
The assembly is cultivated from stem cells of specific brain disease patients, so it can reflect conditions such as gene mutation that may lead to dysfunction of blood brain barrier. The research team used the stem cells of these patients to successfully construct an assembly that can accurately reproduce the key features of cerebral spongiform malformation, providing a new perspective for in-depth exploration of the molecular and cytopathological mechanism of this brain disease.
The research team believes that this model has broad application prospects: customized treatment plans for patients according to their unique genetic and molecular characteristics; Modeling a variety of neurovascular diseases; More accurate and rapid analysis of whether potential brain drugs can effectively cross the blood-brain barrier; Support the provision of immune based treatment to the brain.
