02099nas a2200409   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260001200043653001500055653002400070653002500094653002200119653001100141653002000152653002600172653001400198653001700212653002300229653001200252653001400264653003000278653001500308100001700323700001300340700001800353700001600371700001300387700002200400700001600422700002200438700001500460245012700475300001200602490000600614520105500620022001401675       2021                            d  c2021-0810aAstrocytes10aBlood-Brain Barrier10aCoculture Techniques10aEndothelial Cells10aHumans10aIschemic Stroke10aLab-On-A-Chip Devices10aMicroglia10aMicrovessels10aModels, Biological10aNeurons10aPericytes10aStem Cell Transplantation10aStem cells1 aZhonglin Lyu1 aJon Park1 aKwang-Min Kim1 aHye-Jin Jin1 aHaodi Wu1 aJayakumar Rajadas1 aDeok-Ho Kim1 aGary K. Steinberg1 aWonjae Lee00aA neurovascular-unit-on-a-chip for the evaluation of the restorative potential of stem cell therapies for ischaemic stroke  a847-8630 v53 aThe therapeutic efficacy of stem cells transplanted into an ischaemic brain depends primarily on the responses of the neurovascular unit. Here, we report the development and applicability of a functional neurovascular unit on a microfluidic chip as a microphysiological model of ischaemic stroke that recapitulates the function of the blood-brain barrier as well as interactions between therapeutic stem cells and host cells (human brain microvascular endothelial cells, pericytes, astrocytes, microglia and neurons). We used the model to track the infiltration of a number of candidate stem cells and to characterize the expression levels of genes associated with post-stroke pathologies. We observed that each type of stem cell showed unique neurorestorative effects, primarily by supporting endogenous recovery rather than through direct cell replacement, and that the recovery of synaptic activities is correlated with the recovery of the structural and functional integrity of the neurovascular unit rather than with the regeneration of neurons.  a2157-846X