Long-term utility of neural electrodes is limited due to the biological response to the implanted material.  Hallmarks of the brain foreign body response (FBR) are the hypertrophy and hyperproliferation of reactive astrocytes that form a glial scar, the presence of microglia and recruitment of macrophages, local neuronal degeneration, and leakage of the blood-brain barrier (BBB).  The latter is a newly identified complication of the FBR and involves disruption of membrane junctions. We have developed new methods to alter and examine barrier function near electrodes.  Using nanoparticulate tracers we have probed the size of BBB leakage, showing barrier permeability to particles as large as 500 nm, an order of magnitude larger than previously measured.    Electrodes modified to deliver genes via a layer-by-layer approach allow us to isolate the local effects of molecules that we have previously characterized using global genetic knockout models, including MCP-1 and thrombospondin-2, on BBB dynamics.

Implant induced blood-brain barrier disruption, new methods for the characterization and modulation of barrier function

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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