blood-brain barrier

[ bluhd-breyn ]

nounPhysiology.

a layer of tightly packed cells that make up the walls of brain capillaries and prevent substances in the blood from diffusing freely into the brain: passage across the cell membranes is determined by solubility in the lipid bilayer or recognition by a transport molecule.

Origin of blood-brain barrier

First recorded in 1940–45

Words Nearby blood-brain barrier

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use blood-brain barrier in a sentence

That’s why researchers are designing next-generation therapies with the intent that they will cross the blood-brain barrier, stay there and more effectively treat cancer that has spread to the brain.
Can Cancer Killers Get Past the Brain’s Bouncers? | Charu Kasturi | November 30, 2020 | Ozy
“Drugs that can cross the blood-brain barrier have huge potential benefits for patients.”
Can Cancer Killers Get Past the Brain’s Bouncers? | Charu Kasturi | November 30, 2020 | Ozy
Susan Rosenbaum, founder and CEO of Lauren Sciences, is using a patented nanovesicle technology that aims to deliver existing FDA-approved cancer drugs through the blood-brain barrier.
Can Cancer Killers Get Past the Brain’s Bouncers? | Charu Kasturi | November 30, 2020 | Ozy
It’s too large and gets blocked by that thin film of cells, the blood-brain barrier.
Couch Potato No More: How the Benefits of Exercise Transfer to the Brain | Shelly Fan | July 14, 2020 | Singularity Hub
It’s been used to blast open the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from toxins in the blood, in an effort to allow medical drugs to flow into the brain with occasional subsequent damage.
How Scientists Influenced Monkeys’ Decisions Using Ultrasound in Their Brains | Shelly Fan | May 27, 2020 | Singularity Hub

But how exactly did those fetal cells (or some of the DNA from them) cross the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain?
Scientists Find Bacteria Where It Isn’t Supposed to Be: The Brain | Amanda Schaffer | March 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

Scientific definitions for blood-brain barrier

blood-brain barrier

A physiological mechanism that alters the permeability of capillaries in the brain, so that some substances, such as certain drugs, are prevented from entering brain tissue, while other substances are allowed to enter freely.

Cultural definitions for blood-brain barrier

blood-brain barrier

The separation of the brain, which is bathed in a clear cerebrospinal fluid, from the bloodstream. The cells near the capillary beds external to the brain selectively filter the molecules that are allowed to enter the brain, creating a more stable, nearly pathogen-free environment.

Notes for blood-brain barrier

Oxygen, glucose, and white blood cells are molecules that are able to pass through this barrier. Red blood cells cannot.

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