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Neural Microtissues

Re-thinking the future of drug discovery and disease modeling

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Recapitulating the brain in the lab is no easy task, especially since it involves complex vasculature and the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB). Frontier Bio can reproduce these complexities.

Neurosphere Axons
NeuroTraX: NeuroVascular Unit on a Chip including Blood-Brain-Barrier (BBB)

Chip Format

NeuroTraX™: Blood-Brain-Barrier Chip

The Neuro-Vascular-Unit (NVU) is the building block of the brain made of neurons, endothelial cells, astrocytes, pericytes, and microglia. NeuroTraX creates the NVU in an easy-to-use, easy-to-image format, featuring a continuous Blood-Brain-Barrier (BBB) unlike other chips that require posts or membranes that disrupt tissue continuity. 

Sphere Format

NeuroDots™: Neurospheres in a Dish

Our NeuroDots™ (neurospheres or "mini-brains") can be used for various purposes such as toxicity screening and even bio-hybrid computation / intelligence.  NeuroDots™ are created with human cells and can save precious time and resources in drug development.

NeuroDots: Vascularized Neural Spheroids (NeuroSpheres) in a Dish

We can help answer your questions pertaining to:
 

  • Drug Transport (Can our drug cross the BBB?)

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  • Neurological Effects (How does our drug affect the brain?)

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  • Drug Toxicity (Is our drug toxic to the brain or BBB?)

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  • Drug Efficacy (Does our drug improve the features of a neurological disease?)​

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  • Disease Modeling (What are the mechanisms of disease?)

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NVU Microfluidic BBB Chip, Brain-on-a-Chip

EXAMPLES

Breast Cancer Metastasis On-Chip
Breast Cancer Metastasis On-Chip

CANCER METASTASIS

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This figure shows NeuroTraX™ BBB cell-selectivity as a model for cancer metastasis. MB-231Br, a brain-seeking cancer line, extensively invades the NVU as compared to the wild-type MB-231 which does not cross the BBB. 

ISCHAEMIC STROKE​

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Ischaemic Stroke On-Chip

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NeuroTraX™ could be used to monitor several disease states. The figure above shows its application in ischaemic stroke modeling. Other diseases applications include traumatic brain injuries, Alzheimer's disease, viral infection, and mutation-specific familial diseases among others.

STEM CELL THERAPY​

Stem Cell Therapy  On-Chip

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NeuroTraX™ BBB cell-selectivity screens for effectiveness of cell-based therapies and screen non-BBB-crossing cell therapies out of the pipeline.

Reach out to explore collaboration & partnership possibilities

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