Blood–Brain Barrier Transwell Modeling

Abstract In vitro blood–brain barrier (BBB) modeling with the use of the brain endothelial cells grown on a transwell membrane is widely used to investigate BBB disorders and factors intended to ameliorate these pathologies. Endothelial cells, due to tight junction proteins, ensure selective permeability for a number of substances. The low integrity (i.e., high permeability) of the BBB model, as compared to the physiological one, complicates evaluation of the effects caused by different agents. Thus, the selection of conditions to improve barrier integrity is an essential task. In this study, mouse brain endothelial cells bEnd.3 are used in experiments on transwell modeling. To determine which factors enhance BBB integrity, the effects of the cultivation medium, the number of cells during seeding, the state of the transwell membrane, and cultivation in the presence or in the absence of primary mouse neurons and matrigel as a matrix on the passage of a fluorescent label through the cell monolayer were assessed. The effect of fetal bovine serum on the tight junction protein claudin-5 was analyzed by immunocytochemistry. The obtained cultivation parameter data facilitate the solution to the problem of low integrity of the BBB transwell model and bring the model closer to the physiologically relevant indicators.