Identifying Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) Enhancers and Role of Neutrophils in a 3-D BBB Vascularized Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Neuroinflammation is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. In Alzheimer’s patients, the number of neutrophils is increased on the walls of the blood vessels. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that protect the human body from infections. In an Alzheimer’s mouse model, neutrophils are found near amyloid plaques. Our laboratory has taken a crucial next step in the development of a model for Alzheimer’s disease that recapitulates the multifaceted pathologies of the disease. We have developed a physiologically relevant 3-D human neural cell culture model of Alzheimer’s disease that models the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Using this model for the blood-brain barrier, we will explore how neutrophils interact with the BBB and neurons to understand how neutrophils influence the progression of Alzheimer’s disease We also propose to test the drugs identified in our 3D AD-BBB models in mouse models for Alzheimer’s disease.