Abstract

Brain Neurovascular Models and Their Application to Modeling Transport in Health and Disease

Roger Kamm, Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Despite recent FDA approval of two drugs to reduce amyloid beta (A-beta) plaque in Alzheimer’s patients, a true cure of the disease remains elusive since they simply reduce the rate of cognitive decline.  Also, there is a need for deeper understanding of drug and toxin transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which is difficult to obtain from animal experiments or human testing.  To meet this need, a variety of in vitro microphysiological models have been developed that can accurately recapitulate the barrier properties of the brain vasculature in the context of A-beta clearance from, and toxin or drug entry into, brain tissues.  This talk will focus on a progression of models developed to mimic both the healthy and diseased brain and to predict transport properties.  Cells used in these models can be either primary or iPS cell-derived with the latter being increasingly used to produce standardized models with greater consistency over time and appropriate for screening by pharma and biotech companies.