A Microphysiological Model of the Brain Including Blood-brain Barrier, Neural Tissue and Meningeal Lymphatics

An in vitro model of the brain has been developed which mimics the parameters of normal or diseased brain, including microvasculature, lymphatics, neurons containing genetic changes associated with disease and immune cells. The model is useful for testing the effect of several factors (e.g. molecules, proteins) on blood brain barrier (BBB) function, morphology, permeability, neuronal connectivity, meningeal lymphatics function and morphology, various indicators of pathology and apoptosis. Examples demonstrate the usage of the in vitro system for modeling Alzheimer's disease and potential applications of the models by adding more cellular compartments