AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB025270265
REVIEW ARTICLE
Early Access

Advance in blood-brain barrier in vitro models: Integrating bioprinting with microfluidic chips for compound evaluation

Yating Du1,2 Zezhi Li2 Xiang Li2* Jianping Xie2*
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1 Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
2 Beijing Life Science Academy, Beijing, China
Received: 3 July 2025 | Accepted: 8 August 2025 | Published online: 15 August 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a vital defense interface of the central nervous system that selectively regulates molecular transport into the brain and maintains brain homeostasis. Disruption of BBB integrity contributes to various neurological diseases and represents a key target for therapeutic compounds. However, traditional in vitro models are hard to recreate BBB’s complex structure and dynamic functions. Recent advances in microfluidics and three-dimensional bioprinting have enabled the construction of high-fidelity BBB in vitro models that imitate the brain’s vascular microenvironment. By integrating principles from materials science, microfabrication, and cell biology, these “BBB‑on‑a‑chip” platforms support physiologically relevant shear stress, cell–cell interactions, and barrier properties, making them powerful tools for compound screening and mechanistic research. This review summarizes the advance in BBB in vitro model and the application of bioprinting and microfluidic technology for compound evaluation.

Keywords
Blood-brain barrier
In vitro model
Bioprinting
Microfluidic chip
Compound evaluation
Funding
This work was supported by the Project from Beijing Life Science Academy (2024400CB0060).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing