Figure 1.

Schematic description of the physiological and pathological conditions of the neurovascular unit (NVU) reconstructed on a chip.

Multiple NVU component cell types are co-cultured in microchannels to recapitulate the three-dimensional structure and function of the NVU on a chip. Both physiological (tight endothelium and non-activated states of glial cells) and pathological (leaky endothelium, glial activation, and impaired neurovascular coupling) conditions can be modeled on chips. Created with Adobe Illustrator.