Fungal Brain Infection Modeled in a Human-Neurovascular-Unit-on-a-Chip with a Functional Blood-Brain Barrier

Scientists showed that the neurotropism of Cryptococcus neoformans and its ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) could be modeled by the co-culture of human neural stem cells, brain microvascular endothelial cells and brain vascular pericytes in a human-neurovascular-unit-on-a-chip maintained by a stepwise gravity-driven unidirectional flow and recapitulating the structural and functional features of the BBB.