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Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Setting-up an In Vitro Model of Rat Blood-brain Barrier BBB: A Focus on BBB Impermeability and Receptor-mediated Transport
Published on: June 28, 2014
Novel drug-delivery approaches to the blood-brain barrier
Xiaoqing Wang1, Xiaowen Yu, William Vaughan
1Department of Neurology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
Abstract:
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) maintains homeostasis by blocking toxic molecules from the circulation, but drugs are blocked at the same time. When the dose is increased to enhance the drug concentration in the central nervous system, there are side-effects on peripheral organs. In recent years, genetic therapeutic agents and small molecules have been used in various strategies to penetrate the BBB while minimizing the damage to systemic organs. In this review, we describe several representative methods to circumvent or cross the BBB, including chemical and physical strategies.
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