A blood-brain barrier model based on flexible tubes to tailor the biophysical and chemical environment for drug delivery testing.

Overview

Authors: Maria Alexaki^1,2,3, Attilio Marino¹, Marie Celine Lefevre¹, Claudio Canale⁴, Davide Odino⁴, João F Mano³, Mariana B Oliveira³, Gianni Ciofani¹

ORCID iDs: Attilio Marino, Marie Celine Lefevre, Gianni Ciofani

Institutions: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Italy); Italian Institute of Technology (Italy); University of Aveiro (Portugal); University of Genoa (Italy)

Journal: Materials today. Bio, volume 38, article 103307

Dates: received 11 March 2026; accepted 31 May 2026; published online 2 June 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307 · PMID 42293386 · PMCID PMC13255079 · OpenAlex W7163128897

Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: data only

Categories: cellular / molecular (subfield)

Methods: Statistics

Keywords: Blood-brain barrier model, Polyelectrolyte complex membranes, Tubular structures, Mechanical compression, Endothelial barrier function

Topic: Barrier Structure and Function Studies (Neurology, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex

Funding: H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (101073404, LA/P/0006/2020, UIDP/50011/2020); Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; Ministério da Educação e Ciência

Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 37 references in the paper

Abstract

The development of physiologically relevant in vitro models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is critical for reliable assessment of drug permeability and neurotherapeutic transport. Current platforms often fail to reproduce the three-dimensional geometry and mechanical compliance of cerebral microvessels, limiting their translational relevance. Here, we report the fabrication of soft, flexible and self-supporting tubular membranes via polyelectrolyte complexation of alginate and ε-poly-L-lysine, yielding cylindrical constructs that closely mimic the architecture and flexibility of small brain vessels. The resulting biomaterials support robust endothelial cell adhesion and the formation of a functional barrier, exhibiting controlled permeability consistent with selective molecular transport. Importantly, the compliant tubular constructs enable the application of external mechanical compression, allowing controlled modulation of vessel deformation and barrier integrity in a manner relevant to pathological conditions such as tumor-induced vascular compression. By integrating physiologically relevant cylindrical geometry with a mechanically compliant and deformable microenvironment, this platform provides a tunable and reproducible basis for endothelial barrier formation and mechanical perturbation, enabling the development of a more biomimetic in vitro BBB model.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.

Tracing map

A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none, so it has no map.

Data

Datasets cited

zenodo:18663081, at Zenodo; found in “Data availability”

Data availability

Data Avalaible on Zenodo at 10.5281/zenodo.18663081.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 8 authors, 5 keywords, 3 funders, 37 references.

Cite

This paper

Alexaki, M., Marino, A., Lefevre, M. C., Canale, C., Odino, D., Mano, J. F., Oliveira, M. B., & Ciofani, G. (2026). A blood-brain barrier model based on flexible tubes to tailor the biophysical and chemical environment for drug delivery testing. Materials today. Bio, 38, 103307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307

BibTeX

@article{alexaki2026blood, author = {Alexaki, Maria and Marino, Attilio and Lefevre, Marie Celine and Canale, Claudio and Odino, Davide and Mano, João F and Oliveira, Mariana B and Ciofani, Gianni}, title = {{A blood-brain barrier model based on flexible tubes to tailor the biophysical and chemical environment for drug delivery testing}}, journal = {Materials today. Bio}, year = {2026}, month = jun, volume = {38}, pages = {103307}, publisher = {Elsevier}, issn = {2590-0064}, doi = {10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307}, pmid = {42293386}, pmcid = {PMC13255079} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Alexaki, Maria AU - Marino, Attilio AU - Lefevre, Marie Celine AU - Canale, Claudio AU - Odino, Davide AU - Mano, João F AU - Oliveira, Mariana B AU - Ciofani, Gianni TI - A blood-brain barrier model based on flexible tubes to tailor the biophysical and chemical environment for drug delivery testing T2 - Materials today. Bio J2 - Mater Today Bio PY - 2026 DA - 2026/06/02 VL - 38 SP - 103307 SN - 2590-0064 PB - Elsevier DO - 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

{ "id": "10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307", "type": "article-journal", "title": "A blood-brain barrier model based on flexible tubes to tailor the biophysical and chemical environment for drug delivery testing", "container-title": "Materials today. Bio", "author": [ { "family": "Alexaki", "given": "Maria" }, { "family": "Marino", "given": "Attilio" }, { "family": "Lefevre", "given": "Marie Celine" }, { "family": "Canale", "given": "Claudio" }, { "family": "Odino", "given": "Davide" }, { "family": "Mano", "given": "João F" }, { "family": "Oliveira", "given": "Mariana B" }, { "family": "Ciofani", "given": "Gianni" } ], "container-title-short": "Mater Today Bio", "volume": "38", "page": "103307", "DOI": "10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307", "PMID": "42293386", "PMCID": "PMC13255079", "ISSN": "2590-0064", "publisher": "Elsevier", "URL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103307", "language": "en", "issued": { "date-parts": [ [ 2026, 6, 2 ] ] } }

Contribute

The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.

Sign in with ORCID to claim this paper as one of its authors, correct its record or validate its tracing map: when the paper's metadata lists your ORCID iD, you are recognized at once. Maintainers of its code: sign in with GitHub, then claim the repository on your account page.

Request its removal

To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).

Discussion, reproductions, activity

Discussion: questions and error reports about this paper and its code, from signed-in readers and its authors. It opens with sign-in.

Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code: what they reproduced, with which environment, commit and data. It opens with sign-in.

Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.