![]() Furthermore, many of these models are static. This approach fails to represent the complex structure of the human system and disregards, for instance, the communication between the various cell types. The problem with many in-vitro models is that they recreate the blood-brain barrier in a relatively simplified way using blood-vessel-wall cells (endothelial cells). An alternative is to base experiments on human cells that have been cultivated in the laboratory. Moreover, there are some critics, who question the basic validity of animal testing. In addition to such experiments being relatively expensive, animal cells may provide only part of the picture of what is going on in the human body. To discover how this barrier works, scientists often conduct experiments on live animals. "So what we are trying to understand is how to maintain this wall, break through it and repair it again." This wall is also important from a medical perspective because many diseases of the central nervous system are linked to an injury to the blood-brain barrier. Sometimes, such holes can actually be useful, for example, for supplying the brain with urgently needed medicine. He claims that holes might emerge in the wall if the brain is injured or ill. If he were to explain his research on the blood-brain barrier to an 11-year-old, he would say, "This wall is important because it prevents the bad guys from getting into the brain." The blood-brain barrier is the wall that shields our central nervous system from harmful substances in the bloodstream. A postdoc at ETH Zurich's Bio Engineering Laboratory Mario Modena has done extensive research on it. In order to properly investigate potential new treatments for brain tumours, researchers have created a more realistic model. Read the full article by Caitlin Hayes on Cornell Research.ZURICH: Researching the wall separating the circulatory system from the neurological system has been highly difficult or limited in its use of models. Being able to get drugs into the brain, to treat a tumor or shift that chemical balance in mood disorders, can make a huge difference in a person’s life.” “Think of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, even depression. “We can use this not just for the purposes of tumors,” Bynoe says. ![]() In 2011, she and her team discovered that an FDA-approved drug, currently used for cardiac imaging, can open the BBB-a literal, scientific breakthrough. Bynoe, Microbiology and Immunology, studies the BBB, its structure and composition, and how to modulate it in order to safely deliver drugs to the brain. Beyond surgery, there are essentially no viable treatments for glioblastomas, for instance, the kind of brain tumor Senator John McCain has. What happens, however, when there’s a cancer or a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s within the brain? The BBB is so good at its job that it prevents most therapeutic drugs from entering, too. In many ways, it’s a barrier between life and death. It crucially maintains the right ionic balance within the brain and blocks substances that would disrupt essential neural functions. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a layer of specialized endothelial cells around the brain that protects it-letting in only what is needed and keeping out what could be harmful.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |