Blood Brain Barrier Group

We study the regulation of blood-brain barrier function in brain diseases with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and brain cancer.

WHAT'S NEW

Bjoern selected as Patrick DeLuca Endowed Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology

Bjoern Voted Outstanding PY1 Professor.

Atcharaporn’s New Paper “N-Acetylcysteine Attenuates Aβ-Induced Oxidative Stress, Barrier Disruption, and Renal Dysfunction in 5xFAD Mice” is Published

OUR RESEARCH

The blood-brain barrier is the interface between blood and brain that controls what goes in and comes out of the brain.

Anatomically, the blood-brain barrier is made of endothelial cells forming a complex vascular network that supplies the brain with oxygen and nutrients, and disposes of carbon dioxide and wastes.

Recent studies show that the blood-brain barrier is affected by brain disorders and itself plays a role in causing brain disease. Therefore, understanding blood-brain barrier function is critical for devising new therapeutic strategies to enhance brain drug delivery, improve brain protection, and treat brain disorders.
Currently, we study the role of the blood-brain barrier in three diseases:
Alzheimer's Disease
Epilepsy
Brain Cancer

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

SEE ALL PUBLICATIONS

N-Acetylcysteine Attenuates Aβ-Mediated Oxidative Stress,Blood–Brain Barrier Leakage, and Renal Dysfunction in5xFAD Mice

Atcharaporn Ontawong, Geetika Nehra, Bryan J. Maloney, Chutima S. Vaddhanaphuti, Björn Bauer, Anika M. S. Hartz

  • Molecular Sciences

2025, 26, 4352 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26094352

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by amyloid-beta (Aβ) pathology andis closely linked to oxidative stress, which contributes to blood–brain barrier leakage,renal dysfunction, and cognitive decline. We investigated the effects of N-acetyl cysteine(NAC), an FDA-approved antioxidant,

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Fluorescence-Guided Resection of GL261 Red-FLuc and TRP-mCherry-FLuc Mouse Glioblastoma Tumors

Louis T. Rodgers, Bryan J. Maloney, Anika M. S. Hartz, and Björn Bauer

  • Cancers

2025, 17(5), 734; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17050734

In this study, we developed and tested a method for the fluorescence-guided resection of glioblastoma tumors in mouse models. Unlike previous models, our approach mimics clinical conditions by targeting tumors located deeper in the brain

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Synergistic effects of plasma S100B and MRI measures of cerebrovascular disease on cognition in older adults

Colleen Pappas, Christopher E. Bauer, Valentinos Zachariou, T. J. Libecap, Beatriz Rodolpho, Tifany L. Sudduth, Peter T. Nelson, Gregory A. Jicha, Anika MS Hartz, Xingfeng Shao Danny J. J. Wang, Brian T. Gold

2025, 47:3131–3146; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-024-01498-1

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CONTACT US

University of Kentucky
760 Press Ave, 124 HKRB
Lexington, KY 40536-0679
USA
bauerhartzlab@uky.edu

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