In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier Models-An Overview of Established Models and New Microfluidic Approaches

TY - JOUR

T1 - In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier Models-An Overview of Established Models and New Microfluidic Approaches

AU - Wolff, Anette

AU - Antfolk, Maria

AU - Brodin, Birger

AU - Tenje, Maria

N1 - © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

PY - 2015/9/1

Y1 - 2015/9/1

N2 - The societal need for new central nervous system (CNS) medicines is substantial, because of the global increase in life expectancy and the accompanying increase in age-related CNS diseases. Low blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability has been one of the major causes of failure for new CNS drug candidates. There has therefore been a great interest in cell models, which mimic BBB permeation properties. In this review, we present an overview of the performance of monocultured, cocultured, and triple-cultured primary cells and immortalized cell lines, including key parameters such as transendothelial electrical resistance values, permeabilities of paracellular flux markers, and expression of BBB-specific marker proteins. Microfluidic systems are gaining ground as a new automated technical platform for cell culture and systematic analysis. The performance of these systems was compared with current state-of-the-art models and it was noted that, although they show great promise, these systems have not yet reached beyond the proof-of-concept stage. In general, it was found that there were large variations in experimental protocols, BBB phenotype markers, and paracellular flux markers used. It is the author's opinion that the field may benefit greatly from developing standardized methodologies and initiating collaborative efforts on optimizing culture protocols.

AB - The societal need for new central nervous system (CNS) medicines is substantial, because of the global increase in life expectancy and the accompanying increase in age-related CNS diseases. Low blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability has been one of the major causes of failure for new CNS drug candidates. There has therefore been a great interest in cell models, which mimic BBB permeation properties. In this review, we present an overview of the performance of monocultured, cocultured, and triple-cultured primary cells and immortalized cell lines, including key parameters such as transendothelial electrical resistance values, permeabilities of paracellular flux markers, and expression of BBB-specific marker proteins. Microfluidic systems are gaining ground as a new automated technical platform for cell culture and systematic analysis. The performance of these systems was compared with current state-of-the-art models and it was noted that, although they show great promise, these systems have not yet reached beyond the proof-of-concept stage. In general, it was found that there were large variations in experimental protocols, BBB phenotype markers, and paracellular flux markers used. It is the author's opinion that the field may benefit greatly from developing standardized methodologies and initiating collaborative efforts on optimizing culture protocols.

U2 - 10.1002/jps.24329

DO - 10.1002/jps.24329

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 25630899

SN - 0022-3549

VL - 104

SP - 2727

EP - 2746

JO - Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

JF - Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

IS - 9

ER -