Photodynamic Priming Modulates Endothelial Cell-Cell Junction Phenotype for Light-activated Remote Control of Drug Delivery.

ABSTRACT: The blood-brain barrier (BBB) remains a major obstacle for drug delivery to the central nervous system. In particular, the tight and adherens junctions that join the brain capillary endothelial cells limit the diffusion of various molecules from the bloodstream into the brain. Photodynamic priming (PDP) is a non-cytotoxic modality that involves light activation of photosensitizers to photochemically modulate nearby molecules without killing the cells. Here we investigate the effects of sub-lethal photochemistry on junction phenotype (i.e., continuous, punctate, or perpendicular), as well as the BBB permeability in a transwell model of human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs). We showed that PDP decreases the continuous junction architecture by ~20%, increases the perpendicular

SUBMITTER: Inglut CT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7839980 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature