The choroid plexus barrier acts as a vital gatekeeper of the brain by blocking harmful substances and regulating what can enter from the blood. While being essential for brain health, it strongly limits drugs from reaching the brain. We are creating human models of this barrier to study its function, track disease-related changes, and develop safer, more effective ways to deliver medicines to the brain.
Impact
Right now, most drugs for brain diseases fail because they can’t cross the brain’s natural barriers, leaving millions of patients without treatments. By recreating the choroid plexus barrier in the lab we can test how medicines reach the brain more effectively. Beyond new therapies, this work also opens doors to breakthroughs in aging, neurodegeneration, and protecting the brain from infections.
reNEW research
In the Kirkeby Lab, we generate multiple types of brain cells from stem cells to create tools for studying brain disorders and exploring potential treatments. We have recently started working on choroid plexus cells, which will help us identify drugs that can reach the brain and be developed into effective medicines.
Image description
Choroid plexus cells grown in the lab for 50 days, showing tight junctions (gold), which help form the barrier that protects the brain, and cell nuclei (cyan).
Credits
Jonas Henkenjohann, Research Assistant, Agnete Kirkeby Lab, reNEW Copenhagen.
