μF-hBBB Chip Together with Tetrahedral DNA Frameworks for Visualization of LPS-Mediated Inflammation

Anal Chem. 2023 Aug 1;95(30):11449-11455. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c01804. Epub 2023 Jul 21.

Abstract

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is essential for maintaining central nervous system (CNS) stability, and neuroinflammation may cause the dysfunction of the BBB. MicroRNA-146a (miR-146a) is closely associated with neuroinflammation, which showed significant upregulation in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction. Elucidating the relationship between LPS-induced miR-146a expression and the BBB could decipher the mechanism of many neurological diseases. Here, we constructed an in vitro microfluidic human-BBB (μF-hBBB) chip consisting of human umbilical vein vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human astrocyte (HAs) cells. A tetrahedral DNA framework (TDF-3MB) nanoprobe was used to label miR-146a in HUVECs on μF-hBBB chips before and after LPS induction, and the study revealed a significant increase in miR-146a expression after LPS induction. We believe that such a μF-hBBB chip is a promising in vitro platform for further use in understanding CNS diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Blood-Brain Barrier / metabolism
  • DNA
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / chemically induced
  • Inflammation / metabolism
  • Lipopolysaccharides* / pharmacology
  • MicroRNAs* / genetics
  • MicroRNAs* / metabolism
  • Microfluidics
  • Neuroinflammatory Diseases

Substances

  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • MicroRNAs
  • DNA