Mouse brain blood vessels

WHAT’S THAT?
Tissues need blood to live, and the brain is certainly no exception. But blood vessels are also an entry point for bad things like pathogens and toxins. Enter the blood-brain barrier: Like a bouncer, it allows some things into the brain while preventing entry to others, but it also kicks out a lot of beneficial medicines that need to get into the brain to fix diseases.

WHAT’S THE LATEST?
Science has focused on finding ways to coax the barrier open only for specific drugs, but we simply don’t know enough about how the barrier works yet to do that. Recent research from Harvard Medical School found a gene that controls the barrier’s leakiness through an understudied cell process called transcytosis. Scientists are now working to understand how to use the gene to move drugs into the brain more effectively.

Image by Dr. Ali Erturk/Nikon Small World.

Mouse brain blood vessels

WHAT’S THAT?
Tissues need blood to live, and the brain is certainly no exception. But blood vessels are also an entry point for bad things like pathogens and toxins. Enter the blood-brain barrier: Like a bouncer, it allows some things into the brain while preventing entry to others, but it also kicks out a lot of beneficial medicines that need to get into the brain to fix diseases.

WHAT’S THE LATEST?
Science has focused on finding ways to coax the barrier open only for specific drugs, but we simply don’t know enough about how the barrier works yet to do that. Recent research from Harvard Medical School found a gene that controls the barrier’s leakiness through an understudied cell process called transcytosis. Scientists are now working to understand how to use the gene to move drugs into the brain more effectively.

Image by Dr. Ali Erturk/Nikon Small World.