From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Scientists at UW-Madison have created a new method for developing more accurate models of the blood-brain barrier, which has implications for drug development and disease research.
WARF calls the new method a top licensing prospect within its healthcare portfolio.
It involves transforming human pluripotent stem cells into endothelial cells, which make up the inner lining of blood vessels and the lymphatic system.
The researchers use those cells for a model of the blood-brain barrier, boasting “improved fidelity” to both function and gene expression for this critical system. The blood-brain barrier lines the blood vessels in the brain and protects it from pathogens and other harmful substances.
Scientific understanding of elements of this system’s function thus far has largely come from mouse models, according to the patent application for the method.
While human stem cells offer a way to examine the development of the barrier within the body, the researchers note “existing protocols do not fully mimic the developmental trajectory” or other characteristics of these endothelial cells.
“As a result, existing BBB models do not accurately model BBB gene expression and function,” they wrote.
Because no existing human endothelial cell model has displayed these characteristics so accurately, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation notes, the new modeling method could offer a better way to test blood-brain barrier permeability for various drugs and therapies. It also provides a new avenue for researching the development — and dysfunction — of this barrier to better understand related diseases, according to WARF’s overview.
“Eventually, this innovation could be used for patient-specific and disease-specific modeling of human neurological diseases at the BBB, enabling personalized treatment strategies,” authors wrote.
It was created by Profs. Eric Shusta and Sean Palecek, both associated with the university’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
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