Vascular-Perfusable Human 3D Brain-on-Chip

Abstract

Development and delivery of treatments for neurological diseases are limited by the tight and selective human blood-brain barrier (BBB). Although animal models have been important research and preclinical tools, the rodent BBB exhibits species differences and fails to capture the complexity of human genetics. Microphysiological systems incorporating human-derived cells hold great potential for modeling disease and therapeutic development, with advantages in screening throughput, real-time monitoring, and tunable genetic backgrounds when combined with induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology. Existing 3D BBB-on-chip systems have incorporated iPSC-derived endothelial cells but not the other major brain cell types from iPSCs, each of which contributes to brain physiology and disease. Here we developed a 3D Brain-Chip system incorporating endothelial cells, pericytes, astrocytes, neurons, microglia, and oligodendroglia from iPSCs. To enable this multicellular 3D co-culture in-chip, we designed a GelChip microfluidic platform using a 3D printing-based approach and dextran-based engineered hydrogel. Leveraging this platform, we co-cultured and characterized iPSC-derived brain-on-chips and modeled the brain microvasculature of APOE4, the strongest known genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimers disease. These 3D brain-on-chips provide a versatile system to assess BBB vascular morphology and function, investigate downstream neurological effects in disease, and screen therapeutics to optimize delivery to the brain. Significance StatementThe blood-brain barrier (BBB) is both a contributing factor to neurological disease and a major obstacle to its treatment, yet human-relevant models remain limited. Most existing brain-on-chip systems incorporate only subsets of BBB cell types and cannot capture the full cellular complexity of the human neurovascular unit. Here, we establish a vascular-perfusable 3D Brain-Chip using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived brain cells including endothelial cells, pericytes, astrocytes, neurons, microglia, and oligodendroglia. This system enables systematic analysis of human genetic risk factors, such as APOE4 in Alzheimers disease, and provides a powerful platform to investigate BBB function and dysfunction and accelerate the development of more effective neurological therapies.