Nano-BBB
A hybrid nanodevice has been created that completely simulates the blood-brain barrier of the brain
Researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology IIT (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia) have developed and manufactured an artificial hybrid device that is a complete analogue of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a structure that protects the central part of our nervous system from adverse external factors such as viruses and toxic compounds. However, along with performing such a useful function, the blood-brain barrier prevents the penetration into the brain of drugs injected into the body intravenously or otherwise.
The new device, created by Italian researchers, is a combination of artificial and natural components, and it will be used to study and develop new strategies for overcoming the blood-brain barrier necessary to create new ways to combat brain diseases, such as malignant tumors.
The device is a microfluidic system consisting of artificial components created using modern technologies of three-dimensional nano- and micro-production, for example, two-photon lithography. In order to ensure its biological compatibility, this system also includes components of natural origin, endothelial cells (cells covering the inner surface of blood vessels).
Three-dimensional printing of artificial components was performed using laser beams that focused at a certain point in the space filled with a liquid photopolymer. This technology makes it possible to produce, layer by layer, three-dimensional objects with submicron resolution. In this case, with the help of such three-dimensional printing, microcapillary analgias were made, hollow tubes with a diameter of 10 micrometers, in the surface of which "pores" with a diameter of about 1 micrometer were created, evenly distributed over the entire surface of the artificial capillary.
The entire system of the artificial "blood-brain barrier" consists of 50 capillary tubes, and after its final manufacture, the entire surface of this structure was covered with endothelial cells, which formed the biological component of the barrier. The entire device is several millimeters in size and the test fluids can leak through it at an excess pressure equivalent to the pressure of blood in the blood vessels.
In the future, researchers are going to use an artificial "blood-brain barrier" to study and solve issues related to the delivery of drugs to the brain using carriers of various types, which can be special viruses, nanoparticles or even controlled nanorobots. And naturally, the results of these studies will be able to play a key role in the development of new highly effective methods of treating brain cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, etc.
Article by Marino et al. Biomedicine: A 3D Real-Scale, Biomimetic, and Biohybrid Model of the Blood-Brain Barrier Fabricated through Two-Photon Lithography published in the journal Small – VM.
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