Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41863493›Full record

ArticleAdvanced healthcare materials2026

A Physiological Microfluidic Blood-Brain-Barrier Model for In Vitro Study of Nanoparticle Trafficking and Accumulation.

Bryan B Nguyen, Neona M Lowe, Sophia Kellogg, Kuan-Wei Huang, Hannah O'Toole, Elizabeth J Hale, Venktesh S Shirure, Bhupinder S Shergill, Steven C George, Randy P Carney

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Advanced healthcare materials, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Bryan B NguyenDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2857-2508
Neona M LoweDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7426-0273
Sophia KelloggDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.
Kuan-Wei HuangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1937-645X
Hannah O'TooleDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1843-9332
Elizabeth J HaleDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5273-8834
Venktesh S ShirureDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4430-2612
Bhupinder S ShergillDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7850-0000
Steven C GeorgeDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2263-1914
Randy P CarneyDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8193-1664

Funding

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGYT32ES007059 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS · PI Laura S Van Winkle · 1985 to 2026
$7.9M
SERS diagnostics platform for liquid bioapsy analysis of tumor-associated exosomesR01CA241666 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · PI CARNEY, RANDY · 2020 to 2024
$2.5M
Bottom-up, high-throughput prototyping of extracellular vesicle mimetics using cell-free synthetic biologyR01EB034279 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · PI Randy Carney, Cheemeng Tan · 2023 to 2026
$2.5M
Homogenized, engineered extracellular vesicles for intracranial targetingR01EB033389 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · PI Randy Carney, Aijun Wang · 2023 to 2026
$2.4M
College of Biological Sciences R00-GM080249College of BiosciencesCollege of Engineering Next Level Research Seed FundingDepartment of Molecular and Cellular BiologyNational Institute of Heart, Lung, and Blood Institution T32GM136597National Institute of Heart, Lung, and Blood Institution T32GM144303National Institute of Heart, Lung, and Blood Institution T32HL007013NIEHS NIH HHS T32 ES007059NIH HHS R01CA241666NIH HHS R01EB033389NIH HHS R01EB034279Office of Research and the Provost's OfficeSchool of Medicine Cultivating Team Science Program
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although the blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts passage of most molecules, various naturally occurring and synthetic nanoparticles (NPs) are nonetheless found within the brain parenchyma. To study the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, we developed a microfluidic BBB model (mBBB) using human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (HCMECs) in direct contact with primary human astrocytes and pericytes within a physiologically relevant extracellular matrix. The horizontal architecture enables high-resolution imaging across the full barrier interface and allows direct assessment of nanoparticle transport and accumulation. This in vitro platform recapitulates key features of the BBB, including selective permeability, junctional protein expression, and receptor-mediated uptake pathways. Using this system, the trafficking and accumulation of structurally distinct nanoparticles, including liposomes, nanoplastics, and extracellular vesicles (EVs), were compared. Among these, heterologous EVs exhibit the highest transport efficiency. Analysis of nanoparticle properties suggest that ligand presentation and membrane composition, rather than size or stiffness, primarily govern BBB penetration. The mBBB platform provides a high-throughput, imaging-based framework to systematically interrogate nanoparticle trafficking across the BBB and offers a translational tool for both drug delivery and neurotoxicity screening.

Indexed as

Blood-Brain BarrierMicrofluidicsNanoparticlesAstrocytesBiological TransportCells, CulturedEndothelial CellsExtracellular VesiclesHumansLiposomesPericytesLiposomesexosomesextracellular vesiclesliposomesmacropinocytosisnanoplasticsnon‐animal modelsreceptor mediated transcytosis

Identifiers

PMID41863493
PMCPMC13206469

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.