Overview
- In Advanced Science, researchers show that intense inflammatory cytokine storms disrupt the blood–brain barrier, with leaked blood proteins like fibrinogen driving harmful astrocyte changes.
- The μSiM platform uses a 100‑nanometer nanoporous silicon nitride membrane seeded with iPSC‑derived endothelial and pericyte‑like cells to model human barrier function without animal experiments.
- Physical shear from blood flow strengthened barrier resilience in the inflammation model, indicating that mechanical forces help preserve BBB integrity.
- In Materials Today Bio, pericytes repaired engineered basement membrane defects and stabilized barrier function, with the strongest effects seen under inflammatory challenge.
- The team plans next‑generation chips with added cell types and dynamic flow, and they envision scaling arrays for neuroprotective drug screening and patient‑specific risk assessment before surgery or chemotherapy.