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Review
. 2023 Aug 11;24(16):12699.
doi: 10.3390/ijms241612699.

Blood-Brain Barrier Breakdown in Neuroinflammation: Current In Vitro Models

Sarah Brandl  1 , Markus Reindl  1
Affiliations
Review

Blood-Brain Barrier Breakdown in Neuroinflammation: Current In Vitro Models

Sarah Brandl et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The blood-brain barrier, which is formed by tightly interconnected microvascular endothelial cells, separates the brain from the peripheral circulation. Together with other central nervous system-resident cell types, including pericytes and astrocytes, the blood-brain barrier forms the neurovascular unit. Upon neuroinflammation, this barrier becomes leaky, allowing molecules and cells to enter the brain and to potentially harm the tissue of the central nervous system. Despite the significance of animal models in research, they may not always adequately reflect human pathophysiology. Therefore, human models are needed. This review will provide an overview of the blood-brain barrier in terms of both health and disease. It will describe all key elements of the in vitro models and will explore how different compositions can be utilized to effectively model a variety of neuroinflammatory conditions. Furthermore, it will explore the existing types of models that are used in basic research to study the respective pathologies thus far.

Keywords: blood–brain barrier; in vitro models; neuroinflammation; neurovascular unit.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Considerations for BBB/NVU model development. Adapted from Cameron et al. [87]. Created with BioRender.com.
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