Professor Nacho Romero Romero

Professional biography

I am a cell biologist with research and teaching interests in blood-brain barrier physiology and pathology and in neuroimmunology.

Research interests

Overview: My research interests focus on the function of cerebral blood vessels in health and disease. In particular, I am interested in the pathogenic mechanisms of blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction in disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). I have currently focused my research strategy in identifying the molecular mechanisms mediating abnormal increases in BBB permeability and in leukocyte migration, which ultimately contribute to neuronal death. My research has applications not only as a means to identify potential therapeutic targets for CNS pathologies but also to provide a basis to enhance drug delivery to the CNS. In order to address these questions, my research group uses cell and molecular techniques applied to cultured human brain endothelium and astrocytes and in vivo animal models of disease.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ignacio_Romero2

Current Research Projects:

Development and characterization of in vitro human blood-brain barrier models
Transcriptional and post-trancriptional control of brain endothelial phenotype in neuroinflammation and ageing, in particular microRNAs and lncRNAs
Identification of non-antibody binding domains targeting brain-endothelial cell surface moieties as drug transport carriers

Recent Research Grants:

Grant period	Funder	Title, amount and applicants
2016-2019	OU Res Dev Fund/NHS charter studentship	Role of sex and diet in idiopathic intracranial hypertension. £70,000. Romero (PI), Hawkes, Loughlin (OU), Sharrack (Sheffield)
2016-2019	OU Res Dev Fund/NHS charter studentship	Role of exosomal microRNAs in inflammation at the blood-brain barrier. £70,000. Romero (PI) (OU), Sharrack (Sheffield)
2015-2019	Horizon 2020 ITN	Brain Barriers Training – Age-induced molecular changes at the blood-brain barrier. OU component 270,000 euros. Britta Engelhardt (Bern) and 11 other PIs
2013-2017	BBSRC	Role of microRNAs in ageing at the blood-brain barrier. £386,000. Romero (PI), Saffrey (OU); Wharton, Heath (Sheffield)
2013-2016	MedImmune	Development of a drug delivery system to the CNS using brain endothelial-specific non-antibody binding domains as transport carriers. £75,000. Romero (PI)
2013-2016	OU Res Dev Fund/NHS charter studentship	Molecular mechanisms mediating idiopathic intracranial hypertension. £45,385. Romero (PI) (OU), Preston (KCL), Sharrack (Sheffield)
2011-2014	Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	MicroRNAs in the cerebral vasculature and multiple sclerosis. £205,122. Romero (PI), Hirst, Male (OU), Sharrack (Sheffield), Baker, Michael (QMUL)

Teaching interests

Overview: Open University teaching is based upon distance learning, with students studying core teaching materials designed, produced and led by academics. Our modules are studied for both standard undergraduate purposes and for CPD by professional scientists across the world. Our module materials are produced by teams of academics and production media specialists and teaching is directly provided in small groups by our specialised teams of associated lecturers. Modules are taken by a number of students ranging from ~100 (e.g. practical modules) to ~1,500 (e.g. biological psychology) every presentation. Assessment is in the form of tutor- (TMA) or computer-marked (CMA) assessments and examinable components (ECA). My main teaching area reflects my research field of cell and molecular neurobiology.

Roles in modules I have contributed to

Module Team Chair: Level 3 The molecular basis of human disease (15 points) (2009-2012) and Level 2 Human Biology (30 points) (2004-2005): As a module chair I worked on overseeing the presentation of the which includes the delivery of assessment to students, chairing Exam Boards, Standardisation and Awards meetings and organizing script marking.

Author of distance teaching material (text and activities) and assessment: Level 3 Infectious Disease, author 2 chapters and computer-marked assessment; Level 1 Understanding Cancers, Author 5 chapters, Web-based CD-ROM activities, and computer-marked continuous and examinable assessment; Level 3 The molecular basis of human disease, author 3 chapters CD-ROM based Experimental Investigation and Activities; Level 2 Biological psychology: Exploring the Brain, author 2 chapters, Web-based ‘Exploring the Brain’ CD-ROM, tutor-marked continuous and examinable assessment; Level 3 Molecular and Cell Biology, author 2 chapters, CD-ROM based Activities and tutor-marked continuous and examinable assessment.

Design of Laboratory Practical Experimentation: Level 3 The molecular basis of human disease: (15 points) (2006-2012). A laboratory based module studied by 120 students per year, focussed on the relationship between human genetic variation and susceptibility to HIV1 infection. Practical teaching covered area of PCR and western blot analysis.

Design of Virtual Experimentation: Level 2 Practical Science Drug metabolism and genetic variation (30 points) (2010-present); Level 3 Plants, Pigments and Light (15 points) (2004-2005); Level 3 Fat – the physiology of adipose tissue (15 points) (2004-2005); Level 3 The molecular basis of human disease: (15 points) (2006-2012).

Extra-curricular Distance Teaching: Academic Editor of Communicable Diseases module and workshop facilitator for the Open University’s Health Education and Training (HEAT) Programme in collaboration with the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (2011), aimed at training frontline healthcare workers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Research groups

Name	Type	Parent Unit
Biomedical Research Network (BRN)	Network	Faculty of Science

Externally funded projects

Investigating Mechanisms and Models Predictive of Accessibility of Therapeutics Into The Brain Acronym

Role	Start date	End date	Funding source
Co-investigator	01 Jan 2019	31 Dec 2024	EC (European Commission): FP (inc. Horizon Europe, H2020, ERC)
DISCOVERY AND CHARACTERISATION OF BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER TARGETS AND TRANSPORT MECHANISMS FOR BRAIN DELIVERY OF THERAPEUTICS TO TREAT NEURODEGENERATIVE & METABOLIC DISEASES

Long non-coding RNAs implicated in neuroendocrine prostate cancer initiation and progression: novel therapeutic targets for an incurable disease.

Role	Start date	End date	Funding source
Co-investigator	01 Dec 2016	31 Oct 2020	CRUK Cancer Research UK
Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is the most aggressive prostate cancer type. This disease is resistant to all available therapies, highly metastatic and rapidly fatal. We believe that the elucidation of NEPC-driving pathways could pave the way for the development of effective therapies. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a vast and mostly uncharted region of the human transcriptome. Despite their emerging role in cancer biology, no study has assessed the relevance of lncRNAs in NEPC development. Our collaborator Dr. Wang (BC Cancer Agency) has developed a unique collection of patient-derived prostate cancer models. This collection includes the first-in-field model of transdifferentiation from prostatic adenocarcinoma to NEPC. Aims. We propose to study the role of lncRNAs in NEPC development. The objectives of this study are to determine: 1) whether transcriptomic profiles of lncRNAs in PCa pre-clinical models can elucidate the mechanisms of NEPC development. 2) if selected lncRNAs are promising therapeutic targets for NEPC. Accordingly, our specific aims will be: AIM 1: Identification, functional and clinical characterization of NEPC-driving lncRNAs. AIM 2: Development of innovative therapeutic strategies to prevent NEPC development. At the end of this project, we hope to shed new light on an incurable disease, and to identify viable therapeutic targets, which will be investigated in future translational and clinical studies.

Investigation into the molecular mechanisms underlying idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH)

Role	Start date	End date	Funding source
Lead	01 Oct 2016	30 Sep 2019	Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
Investigation into the molecular mechanisms underlying idiopathic intracranial hypertension Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a neurological condition characterized by increased intracranial pressure in the absence of a tumour or other diseases. IIH affects primarily pre-menopausal obese women but the contribution of reproductive hormones and/or obesity to the pathogenesis of this disease is unknown. Indeed, as its name implies, its aetiology remains elusive although a possible role for inflammatory mediators has been suggested. From a physiological point of view, raised intracranial pressure may be the result of increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) secretion, decreased CSF drainage or a combination of both factors. The objectives for this project are: Year 1. To determine transcriptomic and microRNA changes in choroid plexus of female control rats and rats fed a high-fat diet and in young and old female rats. Years 2 and 3. First, to establish an in vitro rat model of the blood-CSF barrier and, second, to select candidates from the transcriptomic/microRNA analysis that are differentially regulated and investigate their effects on the secretory and transport activity of rat and/or human choroid plexus epithelium (both cell lines and primary cultures)

Investigation Into The Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH) - Four Months Stipend Payment extension

Role	Start date	End date	Funding source
Lead	01 Feb 2016	31 May 2016	Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
IIH is a neurological condition characterized by increased intracranial pressure in the absence of a tumor or other diseases but whose cause remains elusive. A possible role for leptin and inflammatory mediators such as CCL2 has been suggested. The objectives for this project are: 1. To determine, the effect of these inflammatory mediators on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) secretion and drainage 2. To determine the role of sex and high-fat diet on CSF secretion and drainage. 3. to establish an in vitro human model of the blood-CSF barrier and to determine , using transcriptomic analysis, the effect of inflammatory mediators on gene profile of cultures of human choroid plexus epithelium . These results may help identify potential therapeutic molecular targets for IIH

Role of microRNAs in endothelial-derived extracellular vesicles on leukocyte migration across the blood-brain barrier

Role	Start date	End date	Funding source
Lead	01 Oct 2015	30 Sep 2018	Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
Intercellular communication between immune cells and tissue-resident cells is essential to coordinate an effective immune response and involves both cell-contact dependent and independent processes that ensure the transfer of information between bystander and distant cells. There is a rapidly growing body of evidence on the pivotal role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in cell communication and these structures are emerging as important mediators for immune modulation upon delivery of their molecular cargo. In the last decade, EVs have been shown to be efficient carriers of genetic information, including microRNAs, that can be transferred between cells and regulate gene expression and function on the recipient cell. However, little is known about regulation of cellular function by EVs at the blood-brain barrier (BBB), the main route of entry of immune cells into the central nervous system (CNS), in pathological conditions. We have recently shown that EVs isolated from MS patients induce blood-brain barrier dysfunction, characterised by leakiness of the barrier, in a human culture model (1) and that the microRNA profile of brain endothelium undergoes profound changes in inflammation (2,3). Thus, the proposed project will investigate the role of microRNAs secreted in EVs in activation of brain endothelium and subsequent leukocyte migration. In year 1, the miroRNA profile of EVs released by cultured human brain endothelium in inflammatory conditions and in plasma of MS patients will be determined. In year 2, the effects of endothelial-derived and MS plasma-derived EVs on leukocyte adhesion, both leukocyte cell lines and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, under flow will be investigated. In year 3, specific microRNAs will be knocked-down in cultured human brain endothelium prior to EV collection and subsequent effects on leukocyte adhesion will be investigated

BtRAIN (Brain Barriers training) - To understand the brain barriers

Role	Start date	End date	Funding source
Lead	01 Sep 2015	31 Aug 2019	EC (European Commission): FP (inc. Horizon Europe, H2020, ERC)
The general aim of the current proposal is to the function of the neurovascular unit across species and the impact of several conditions (development, inflammation, ageing, exposure to drugs)on the function of the blood-brain barriers. The aims are: 1. Prediciting brain barrier function using in vitro BBB models 2. Brain barriers signature in vertrebrates 3. Brain barriers as therapeutic and diagnostic target The OU will lead the project within the BtRAIN network focused on age-associated changes in gene and microRNA expression at the blood-brain barrier. See the network webpage http://www.btrain-2020.eu/

Publications

Journal articles

IQGAP1 and NWASP promote human cancer cell dissemination and metastasis by regulating β1-integrin via FAK and MRTF/SRF (2024-04)
Cerutti, Camilla; Lucotti, Serena; Menendez, Sofia T.; Reymond, Nicolas; Garg, Ritu; Romero, Ignacio A.; Muschel, Ruth and Ridley, Anne J.
Cell Reports, 43, Article 113989(4)

A hydrogel model of the human blood-brain barrier using differentiated stem cells (2023)
Rahatekar Singh, Nandita; Gromnicova, Radka; Brachner, Andreas; Kraev, Igor; Romero, Ignacio A; Neuhaus, Winfried and Male, David
PLOS ONE, 18, Article e0283954(4)

A human-derived neurovascular unit in vitro model to study the effects of cellular cross-talk and soluble factors on barrier integrity (2022)
Barberio, Chiara; Withers, Aimee; Mishra, Yash; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette and Owens, Róisín M.
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 16, Article 1065193

Endothelial-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Induce Cerebrovascular Dysfunction in Inflammation (2021-09)
Roig-Carles, David; Willms, Eduard; Fontijn, Ruud D.; Martinez-Pacheco, Sarai; Mäger, Imre; de Vries, Helga E.; Hirst, Mark; Sharrack, Basil; Male, David K.; Hawkes, Cheryl A. and Romero, Ignacio A.
Pharmaceutics, 13, Article 1525(9)

Age-related ultrastructural neurovascular changes in the female mouse cortex and hippocampus (2021-05)
Frias Anaya, Eduardo; Gromnicova, Radka; Kraev, Igor; Rogachevsky, Vadim; Male, David; Crea, Francesco; Hawkes, Cheryl and Romero, Ignacio A.
Neurobiology of Aging, 101 (pp. 273-284)

Loss of cholinergic innervation differentially affects eNOS-mediated blood flow, drainage of Aβ and cerebral amyloid angiopathy in the cortex and hippocampus of adult mice (2021)
Nizari, Shereen; Wells, Jack A.; Carare, Roxana O.; Romero, Ignacio A. and Hawkes, Cheryl A.
Acta Neuropathologica Communications, 9, Article 12(1)

The evolutionarily conserved long non‐coding RNA LINC00261 drives neuroendocrine prostate cancer proliferation and metastasis via distinct nuclear and cytoplasmic mechanisms (2021)
Mather, Rebecca L.; Parolia, Abhijit; Carson, Sandra E.; Venalainen, Erik; Roig-Carles, David; Jaber, Mustapha; Chu, Shih‐Chun; Alborelli, Ilaria; Wu, Rebecca; Lin, Dong; Nabavi, Noushin; Jachetti, Elena; Colombo, Mario P.; Xue, Hui; Pucci, Perla; Ci, Xinpei; Hawkes, Cheryl; Li, Yinglei; Pandha, Hardev; Ulitsky, Igor; Marconett, Crystal; Quagliata, Luca; Jiang, Wei; Romero, Ignacio A; Wang, Yuzhuo and Crea, Francesco
Molecular Oncology, 15(7) (pp. 1921-1941)

Comparison of polypeptides that bind the transferrin receptor for targeting gold nanocarriers (2021)
Mcquaid, Conor; Halsey, Andrea; Dubois, Maeva; Romero, Ignacio A and Male, David
PLoS ONE, 16, Article e0252341(6)

Advancing brain barriers RNA sequencing: guidelines from experimental design to publication (2020-08-18)
Francisco, David M. F.; Marchetti, Luca; Rodríguez-Lorenzo, Sabela; Frias-Anaya, Eduardo; Figueiredo, Ricardo M.; Winter, Peter; Romero, Ignacio Andres; de Vries, Helga E.; Engelhardt, Britta; Bruggmann, Rémy and BtRAIN Network,,
Fluids and barriers of the CNS, 17, Article 51(1)

LncRNA HORAS5 promotes taxane resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer via a BCL2A1-dependent mechanism (2020-07)
Pucci, Perla; Venalainen, Erik; Alborelli, Ilaria; Quagliata, Luca; Hawkes, Cheryl; Mather, Rebecca; Romero, Ignacio A; Rigas, Sushila; Wang, Yuzhuo and Crea, Francesco
Epigenomics, 12(13) (pp. 1123-1138)

Cerebrospinal fluid dynamics modulation by diet and cytokines in rats. (2020-02-10)
Alimajstorovic, Zerin; Pascual-Baixauli, Ester; Hawkes, Cheryl A.; Sharrack, Basil; Loughlin, A. Jane; Romero, Ignacio A. and Preston, Jane E.
Fluids and barriers of the CNS, 17, Article 10 (2020)

High Levels of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases in CCM3-Deficient Cells Increase Their Susceptibility to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition (2020)
Sartages, Miriam; Floridia, Ebel; García-Colomer, Mar; Iglesias, Cristina; Macía, Manuel; Peñas, Patricia; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Pombo, Celia M. and Zalvide, Juan
Biomedicines, 8(12) (e624)

HORAS5 promotes cabazitaxel resistance in castration resistant prostate cancer via a BCL2A1-dependent survival mechanism (2019-10-01)
Pucci, P.; Venalainen, E.; Alborelli, I.; Quagliata, L.; Mather, R.; Rigas, S.; Romero, I.; Wang, Y. and Crea, F.
Annals of Oncology, 30(5) (v798)

Age-Associated mRNA and miRNA Expression Changes in the Blood-Brain Barrier (2019-06-25)
Goodall, Emily F.; Leach, Vicki; Wang, Chunfang; Cooper-Knock, Johnathan; Heath, Paul R.; Baker, David; Drew, David R.; Saffrey, M. Jill; Simpson, Julie E.; Romero, Ignacio A. and Wharton, Stephen B.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20, Article 3097(12)

Cannabidiol Enhances the Passage of Lipid Nanocapsules across the Blood–Brain Barrier Both in Vitro and in Vivo (2019-05-06)
Aparicio-Blanco, Juan; Romero, Ignacio A.; Male, David K.; Slowing, Karia; Garcia-Garcia, Luis and Torres-Suarez, Ana
Molecular Pharmaceutics, 16(5) (pp. 1999-2010)

Cerebral cavernous malformations form an anticoagulant vascular domain in humans and mice (2019-01-17)
Lopez-Ramirez, Miguel Alejandro; Pham, Angela; Girard, Romuald; Wyseure, Tine; Hale, Preston; Yamashita, Atsuki; Koskimäki, Janne; Polster, Sean; Saadat, Laleh; Romero, Ignacio A.; Esmon, Charles T.; Lagarrigue, Frederic; Awad, Issam A.; Mosnier, Laurent O. and Ginsberg, Mark H.
Blood, 133(3) (pp. 193-204)

3D Reconstruction of the Neurovascular Unit Reveals Differential Loss of Cholinergic Innervation in the Cortex and Hippocampus of the Adult Mouse Brain (2019)
Nizari, Shereen; Carare, Roxana O.; Romero, Ignacio A. and Hawkes, Cheryl A.
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 11, Article 172

PPARγ agonist-loaded PLGA -PEG nanocarriers as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease: in vitro and in vivo studies (2018-09-20)
Silva-Abreu, Marcelle; Calpena, Ana Cristina; Benito, Pol Andres; Romero, Ignacio A.; Roig-Carles, David; Gromnicova, Radka; Espina, Marta; Ferrer, Isidre; Garcia, Maria Luisa and Male, David
International Journal of Nanomedicine, 13 (pp. 5577-5590)

Anti-TNFR1 targeting in humanized mice ameliorates disease in a model of multiple sclerosis. (2018-09-11)
Williams, Sarah K.; Fairless, Richard; Maier, Olaf; Liermann, Patricia C.; Pichi, Kira; Fischer, Roman; Eisel, Ulrich L. M.; Kontermann, Roland; Herrmann, Andreas; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Nacho; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Pfizenmaier, Klaus and Diem, Ricarda
Scientific reports, 8, Article 13628 (2018) (pp. 1-14)

Age-associated changes in the blood brain barrier: Comparative studies in human and mouse (2018-03-25)
Goodall, Emily F.; Wang, Chunfang; Simpson, Julie E.; Baker, David J.; Drew, David R.; Heath, Paul R.; Saffrey, M. Jill; Romero, Ignacio A. and Wharton, Stephen B.
Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 44(3) (pp. 328-340)

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity and a downregulated Hedgehog pathway impair blood-brain barrier function in an in vitro model of CNS tuberculosis (2017-11-22)
Brilha, Sara; Ong, Catherine W M; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Nacho; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier and Friedland, Jon S
Scientific Reports, 7, Article 16031

Current research into brain barriers and the delivery of therapeutics for neurological diseases: a report on CNS barrier congress London, UK, 2017. (2017-11-07)
Greenwood, John; Hammarlund-Udenaes, Margareta; Jones, Hazel C; Stitt, Alan W; Vandenbrouke, Roosmarijn E; Romero, Ignacio A.; Campbell, Matthew; Fricker, Gert; Brodin, Birger; Manninga, Heiko; Gaillard, Pieter J; Schwaninger, Markus; Webster, Carl; Wicher, Krzysztof B and Khrestchatisky, Michel
Fluids and barriers of the CNS, 14(1) (p 31)

Circulating endothelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles mediate the acute phase response and sickness behaviour associated with CNS inflammation. (2017-08-29)
Couch, Yvonne; Akbar, Naveed; Roodselaar, Jay; Evans, Matthew C; Gardiner, Chris; Sargent, Ian; Romero, Ignacio A.; Bristow, Adrian; Buchan, Alastair M; Haughey, Norman and Anthony, Daniel C
Scientific reports, 7(1) (p 9574)

The role of perivascular innervation and neurally mediated vasoreactivity in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (2017-06)
Nizari, Shereen; Romero, Ignacio A. and Hawkes, Cheryl A.
Clinical Science, 131(12) (pp. 1207-1214)

MiR-126 and miR-126* regulate shear-resistant firm leukocyte adhesion to human brain endothelium (2017-04-30)
Cerutti, Camilla; Edwards, Laura J.; de Vries, Helga E.; Sharrack, Basil; Male, David K. and Romero, Ignacio A.
Scientific Reports, 7 (p 45284)

Adenosine receptors regulate gap junction coupling of the human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells hCMEC/D3 by Ca²⁺ influx through cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (2017-04-15)
Bader, Almke; Bintig, Willem; Begandt, Daniela; Klett, Anne; Siller, Ina G.; Gregor, Carola; Schaarschmidt, Frank; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Hell, Stefan W. and Ngezahayo, Anaclet
The Journal of Physiology, 595(8) (pp. 2497-2517)

Could an endoneurial endothelial crosstalk between Wnt/β-catenin and Sonic Hedgehog pathways underlie the early disruption of the infra-orbital blood-nerve barrier following chronic constriction injury? (2017-01-01)
Moreau, Nathan; Mauborgne, Annie; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette B; Villanueva, Luis; Pohl, Michel and Boucher, Yves
Molecular pain, 13 (pp. 1-16)

Transport of Gold Nanoparticles by Vascular Endothelium from Different Human Tissues (2016-08-25)
Gromnicova, Radka; Kaya, Mehmet; Romero, Ignacio A.; Williams, Phil; Satchell, Simon; Sharrack, Basil and Male, David
PLoS ONE, 11, Article e0161610(8)

Regulation of brain endothelial barrier function by microRNAs in health and neuroinflammation (2016-08)
Lopez-Ramirez, Miguel Alejandro; Reijerkerk, Arie; de Vries, Helga E. and Romero, Ignacio Andres
The FASEB Journal, 30(8) (pp. 2662-2672)

In vitro models of the blood–brain barrier: An overview of commonly used brain endothelial cell culture models and guidelines for their use (2016-05-01)
Helms, Hans C; Abbott, N Joan; Burek, Malgorzata; Cecchelli, Romeo; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Deli, Maria A; Förster, Carola; Galla, Hans J; Romero, Ignacio A; Shusta, Eric V; Stebbins, Matthew J; Vandenhaute, Elodie; Weksler, Babette and Brodin, Birger
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 36(5) (pp. 862-890)

Early alterations of Hedgehog signaling pathway in vascular endothelial cells after peripheral nerve injury elicit blood-nerve barrier disruption, nerve inflammation, and neuropathic pain development (2016-04-30)
Moreau, Nathan; Mauborgne, Annie; Bourgoin, Sylvie; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette B.; Villanueva, Luis; Pohl, Michel and Boucher, Yves
PAIN, 157(4) (pp. 827-839)

Localisation and mobility of glucose-coated gold nanoparticles within the brain (2016-03-31)
Gromnicova, Radka; Yilmaz, Canan Ugur; Orhan, Nurcan; Kaya, Mehmet; Davies, Heather; Williams, Phil; Romero, Ignacio A.; Sharrack, Basil and Male, David
Nanomedicine, 11(6) (pp. 617-625)

A three-dimensional model of the human blood-brain barrier to analyse the transport of nanoparticles and astrocyte/endothelial interactions (2016-01-21)
Reddy, P; Gromnicova, Radka; Davies, Heather; Phillips, James; Romero, Ignacio A and Male, David
F1000Research, 4, Article 1279

Insulin and IGF1 signalling pathways in human astrocytes in vitro and in vivo; characterisation, subcellular localisation and modulation of the receptors. (2015-12)
Garwood, Claire J.; Ratcliffe, Laura E.; Morgan, Sarah V.; Simpson, Julie E.; Owens, Helen; Vazquez-Villaseñor, Irina; Heath, Paul R.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Ince, Paul G. and Wharton, Stephen B.
Molecular Brain, 8, Article 51(1)

Protective effect of the multitarget compound DPH-4 on human SSAO/VAP-1-expressing hCMEC/D3 cells under oxygen-glucose deprivation conditions, an in vitro experimental model of cerebral ischemia. (2015-11-12)
Sun, P.; Esteban, G.; Inokuchi, T.; Marco-Contelles, J.; Weksler, B. B.; Romero, I. A.; Couraud, P. O.; Unzeta, M. and Solé, M.
British Journal of Pharmacology, 172(22) (pp. 5390-5402)

Serotype O18 avian pathogenic and neonatal meningitis Escherichia coli strains employ similar pathogenic strategies for the onset of meningitis. (2015-11)
Krishnan, Subramanian; Chang, Alexander C.; Hodges, Jacqueline; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Nicholson, Bryon A.; Nolan, Lisa K. and Prasadarao, Nemani V.
Virulence, 6(8) (pp. 777-786)

Zinc-imidazolate polymers (ZIPs) as a potential carrier to brain capillary endothelial cells (2015-10-26)
Chiacchia, M.; Cerutti, C.; Gromnicova, R.; Rietdorf, K.; Romero, I.A. and Bradshaw, D.
Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 3(46) (pp. 9053-9059)

Characterizing the pathotype of neonatal meningitis causing Escherichia coli (NMEC) (2015-10-14)
Wijetunge, D. S. S.; Gongati, S.; DebRoy, C.; Kim, K. S.; Couraud, P. O.; Romero, I. A.; Weksler, B. and Kariyawasam, S.
BMC Microbiology, 15, Article 211

Differential permissivity of human cerebrovascular endothelial cells to enterovirus infection and specificities of enterovirus 71 in crossing an in vitro model of human blood brain barrier (2015-07)
Volle, Romain; Archimbaud, Christine; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Mirand, Audrey; Pereira, Bruno; Henquell, Cécile; Peigue-Lafeuille, Hélène and Bailly, Jean-Luc
Journal of General Virology, 96 (pp. 1682-1695)

Inflammatory response of endothelial cells to a human endogenous retrovirus associated with multiple sclerosis is mediated by TLR4. (2015-05-01)
Duperray, Alain; Barbe, Delphin; Raguenez, Gilda; Weksler, Babette B.; Romero, Ignacio A. and Couraud, Pierre-Olivier
International Immunology, 27(11) (pp. 545-553)

Brain endothelial miR-146a negatively modulates T-cell adhesion through repressing multiple targets to inhibit NF-κB activation. (2015-03-01)
Wu, Dongsheng; Cerutti, Camilla; Lopez-Ramirez, Alejandro; Pryce, Gareth; King-Robson, Josh; Simpson, Julie E.; van der Pol, Susanne M. A.; Hirst, Mark C.; de Vries, Helga E.; Sharrack, Basil; Baker, David; Male, David K.; Michael, Gregory J. and Romero, Ignacio A
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 35(3) (pp. 412-23)

Permeability of PEGylated immunoarsonoliposomes through in vitro blood brain barrier: medulloblastoma co-culture models for brain tumor therapy (2015-03)
Al-Shehri, Abdulghani; Favretto, Marco E.; Ioannou, Panayiotis V.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Weksler, Babette Barbash; Parker, Terry L. and Kallinteri, Paraskevi
Pharmaceutical research, 32(3) (pp. 1072-83)

The blood-brain barrier in multiple sclerosis: microRNAs as key regulators (2015)
Kamphuis, W. W.; Derada Troletti, C.; Reijerkerk, A.; Romero, I. A. and de Vries, H. E.
CNS & Neurological Disorders Drug Targets, 14(2) (pp. 157-67)

The poorly membrane permeable antipsychotic drugs amisulpride and sulpiride are substrates of the organic cation transporters from the SLC22 family. (2014-11)
Dos Santos Pereira, Joao N.; Tadjerpisheh, Sina; Abu Abed, Manar; Saadatmand, Ali R.; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio A.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Brockmöller, Jürgen and Tzvetkov, Mladen V.
AAPS Journal, 16(6) (pp. 1247-1258)

Microparticles in multiple sclerosis and clinically isolated syndrome: effect on endothelial barrier function. (2014-09-22)
Marcos-Ramiro, Beatriz; Oliva Nacarino, Pedro; Serrano-Pertierra, Esther; Blanco-Gelaz, Miguel Ángel; Weksler, Babette B.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Couraud, Pierre O.; Tuñón, Alberto; López-Larrea, Carlos; Millán, Jaime and Cernuda-Morollón, Eva
BMC Neuroscience, 15, Article 110

Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of BBB permeability, tumor cell uptake, and cytotoxicity of a series of carboranylporphyrin conjugates. (2014-08-14)
Bhupathiraju, N. V. S. Dinesh K.; Hu, Xiaoke; Zhou, Zehua; Fronczek, Frank R.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette and Vicente, M. Graça H.
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 57(15) (pp. 6718-28)

MicroRNA-155 negatively affects blood-brain barrier function during neuroinflammation. (2014-06-01)
Lopez-Ramirez, Miguel Alejandro; Wu, Dongsheng; Pryce, Gareth; Simpson, Julie E.; Reijerkerk, Arie; King-Robson, Josh; Kay, Oliver; de Vries, Helga E.; Hirst, Mark C.; Sharrack, Basil; Baker, David; Male, David Kingsley; Michael, Gregory J. and Romero, Ignacio Andres
FASEB Journal, 28(6) (pp. 2551-2565)

CXCL1/CXCL8 (GROα/IL-8) in human diabetic ketoacidosis plasma facilitates leukocyte recruitment to cerebrovascular endothelium in vitro (2014-05-01)
Omatsu, Tatsushi; Cepinskas, Gediminas; Clarson, Cheril; Patterson, Eric K.; Alharfi, Ibrahim M.; Summers, Kelly; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette and Fraser, Douglas D.
American Journal of Physiology. Endocrinology and Metabolism, 306(9) (E1077-E1084)

Oxidative and pro-inflammatory impact of regular and denicotinized cigarettes on blood brain barrier endothelial cells: is smoking reduced or nicotine-free products really safe? (2014-04-23)
Naik, Pooja; Fofaria, Neel; Prasad, Shikha; Sajja, Ravi K.; Weksler, Babette; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A. and Cucullo, Luca
BMC Neuroscience, 15, Article 51

Paracrine signalling of inflammatory cytokines from an in vitro blood brain barrier model upon exposure to polymeric nanoparticles. (2014-03-07)
Raghnaill, Michelle Nic; Bramini, Mattia; Ye, Dong; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Aberg, Christoffer; Salvati, Anna; Lynch, Iseult and Dawson, Kenneth A.
Analyst, 139(5) (pp. 923-930)

Differences in amyloid-β clearance across mouse and human blood-brain barrier models: kinetic analysis and mechanistic modeling. (2014-01-24)
Qosa, Hisham; Abuasal, Bilal S.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Couraud, Pierre-Oliver; Keller, Jeffrey N. and Kaddoumi, Amal
Neuropharmacology, 79 (pp. 668-678)

Drug-induced trafficking of p-glycoprotein in human brain capillary endothelial cells as demonstrated by exposure to mitomycin C. (2014)
Noack, Andreas; Noack, Sandra; Hoffmann, Andrea; Maalouf, Katia; Buettner, Manuela; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Alms, Dana; Römermann, Kerstin; Naim, Hassan Y. and Löscher, Wolfgang
PloS one, 9, Article e88154(2)

Glucose-coated gold nanoparticles transfer across human brain endothelium and enter astrocytes in vitro (2013-12-05)
Gromnicova, Radka; Davies, Heather A.; Sreekanthreddy, Pedagannganagari; Romero, Ignacio A.; Lund, Torben; Roitt, Ivan M.; Phillips, James B. and Male, David K.
PLoS ONE, 8, Article e81043(12)

Cytokine-induced changes in the gene expression profile of a human cerebral microvascular endothelial cell-line, hCMEC/D3. (2013-09-19)
Lopez-Ramirez, Miguel Alejandro; Male, David Kingsley; Wang, Chunfang; Sharrack, Basil; Wu, Dongsheng and Romero, Ignacio Andres
Fluids and Barriers of the CNS, 10, Article 27(1)

A recombinant inhibitory isoform of vascular endothelial growth factor_164/165 aggravates ischemic brain damage in a mouse model of focal cerebral ischemia. (2013-09)
Chaitanya, Ganta V.; Cromer, Walter E.; Parker, Courtney P.; Couraud, Pierre O.; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette; Mathis, J. Michael; Minagar, Alireza and Alexander, J. Steven
American Journal of Pathology, 183(3) (pp. 1010-1024)

Somatostatin preserved blood brain barrier against cytokine induced alterations: possible role in multiple sclerosis. (2013-08-15)
Basivireddy, Jayasree; Somvanshi, Rishi K.; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette B.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Oger, Joel and Kumar, Ujendra
Biochemical Pharmacology, 86(4) (pp. 497-507)

Temporal profile of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in a human endothelial cell culture model of cerebral ischemia. (2013-07)
Reuter, B.; Rodemer, C.; Grudzenski, S.; Couraud, P.-O.; Weksler, B.; Romero, Ignacio A; Meairs, S.; Bugert, P.; Hennerici, M. G and Fatar, M.
Cerebrovascular Diseases, 35(6) (pp. 514-520)

A multi-system approach assessing the interaction of anticonvulsants with P-gp. (2013-05-31)
Dickens, David; Yusof, Siti R.; Abbott, N. Joan; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio A; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Alfirevic, Ana; Pirmohamed, Munir and Owen, Andrew
PLoS ONE, 8, Article e64854(5)

Targeting endothelial CD146 attenuates neuroinflammation by limiting lymphocyte extravasation to the CNS. (2013-04-18)
Duan, Hongxia; Xing, Shu; Luo, Yongting; Feng, Liqun; Gramaglia, Irene; Zhang, Ying; Lu, Di; Zeng, Qiqun; Fan, Kelong; Feng, Jing; Yang, Dongling; Qin, Zhihai; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette and Yan, Xiyun
Scientific reports, 3, Article 1687

MicroRNAs regulate human brain endothelial cell-barrier function in inflammation: implications for multiple sclerosis. (2013-04-17)
Reijerkerk, Arie; Lopez-Ramirez, M. Alejandro; van Het Hof, Bert; Drexhage, Joost A. R.; Kamphuis, Wouter W.; Kooij, Gijs; Vos, Joost B.; van der Pouw Kraan, Tineke C. T. M.; van Zonneveld, Anton J.; Horrevoets, Anton J.; Prat, Alexandre; Romero, Ignacio A and de Vries, Helga E.
The Journal of Neuroscience, 33(16) (pp. 6857-6863)

High-density lipoproteins limit neutrophil-induced damage to the blood–brain barrier in vitro (2013-04)
Bao Dang, Quoc; Lapergue, Bertrand; Tran-Dinh, Alexy; Diallo, Devy; Moreno, Juan-Antonio; Mazighi, Mikael; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Michel, Jean-Baptiste; Amarenco, Pierre and Meilhac, Olivier
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 33(4) (pp. 575-582)

BBB ON CHIP: microfluidic platform to mechanically and biochemically modulate blood-brain barrier function (2013-02-01)
Griep, L. M.; Wolbers, F.; de Wagenaar, B.; ter Braak, P. M.; Weksler, B. B.; Romero, I. A; Couraud, P. O.; Vermes, I.; van der Meer, A. D. and van den Berg, A.
Biomedical Microdevices, 15(1) (pp. 145-150)

Identification of an essential endogenous regulator of blood-brain barrier integrity, and its pathological and therapeutic implications (2013-01-15)
Cristante, Enrico; McArthur, Simon; Mauro, Claudio; Maggioli, Elisa; Romero, Ignacio A.; Wylezinska-Arridge, Marzena; Couraud, Pierre O.; Lopez-Tremoleda, Jordi; Christian, Helen C.; Weksler, Babette B.; Malaspina, Andrea and Solito, Egle
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(3) (pp. 832-841)

Immortalized human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells maintain the properties of primary cells in an in vitro model of immune migration across the blood brain barrier (2013-01-15)
Daniels, Brian P.; Cruz-Orengo, Lillian; Pasieka, Tracy Jo; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Cooper, John A.; Doering, Tamara L. and Klein, Robyn S.
Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 212(1) (pp. 173-179)

The angiogenic gene profile of circulating endothelial progenitor cells from ischemic stroke patients. (2013)
Navarro-Sobrino, Míriam; Hernández-Guillamon, Mar; Fernandez-Cadenas, Israel; Ribó, Marc; Romero, Ignacio A; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Weksler, Babette Barbash; Montaner, Joan and Rosell, Anna
Vascular Cell, 5(3) (p 3)

The hCMEC/D3 cell line as a model of the human blood brain barrier (2013)
Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio A. and Couraud, Pierre-Olivier
Fluids and barriers of the CNS, 10, Article 16(1)

The association of statins plus LDL receptor-targeted liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin increases the in vitro drug delivery across blood-brain barrier cells (2012-12)
Pinzón-Daza, M. L.; Garzón, R.; Couraud, P. O.; Romero, I. A.; Weksler, B.; Ghigo, D.; Bosia, A. and Riganti, C.
British Journal of Pharmacology, 167(7) (pp. 1431-1447)

Cell-penetrating anti-GFAP VHH and corresponding fluorescent fusion protein VHH-GFP spontaneously cross the blood-brain barrier and specifically recognize astrocytes: application to brain imaging (2012-10-22)
Li, Tengfei; Bourgeois, Jean-Pierre; Celli, Susanna; Glacial, Fabienne; Le Sourd, Anne-Marie; Mecheri, Salah; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Rougeon, François and Lafaye, Pierre
FASEB Journal, 26(10) (pp. 3969-3979)

Transcriptional control of the multi-drug transporter ABCB1 by transcription factor Sp3 in different human tissues (2012-10)
Gromnicova, Radka; Romero, Ignacio A and Male, David
PLoS ONE, 7, Article e48189(10)

Transcellular targeting of fiber- and hexon-modified adenovirus vectors across the brain microvascular endothelial cells in vitro (2012-09)
Laakkonen, Johanna P.; Engler, Tatjana; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Kreppel, Florian and Kochanek, Stefan
PLoS ONE, 7(9) (e45977)

CCL2 disrupts the adherens junction: implications for neuroinflammation (2012-08)
Roberts, Toni K; Eugenin, Eliseo A; Lopez, Lillie; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette B; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier and Berman, Joan W
Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology, 92(8) (pp. 1213-1233)

The involvement of a Na⁺- and Cl⁻-dependent transporter in the brain uptake of amantadine and rimantadine (2012-04-02)
Kooijmans, Sander A. A.; Senyschyn, Danielle; Mezhiselvam, Muguntha M.; Morizzi, Julia; Charman, Susan A.; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio-Andres; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier and Nicolazzo, Joseph A.
Molecular pharmaceutics, 9(4) (pp. 883-93)

Lamotrigine is a substrate for OCT1 in brain endothelial cells (2012-03-15)
Dickens, David; Owen, Andrew; Alfirevic, Ana; Giannoudis, Athina; Davies, Andrea; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio A; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier and Pirmohamed, Munir
Biochemical Pharmacology, 83(6) (pp. 805-814)

Hepatitis C Virus infects the endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier (2012-03)
Fletcher, Nicola F.; Wilson, Garrick K.; Murray, Jacinta; Hu, Ke; Lewis, Andrew; Reynolds, Gary M.; Stamataki, Zania; Meredith, Luke W.; Rowe, Ian A.; Luo, Guangxiang; Lopez-Ramirez, Miguel A.; Baumert, Thomas F.; Weksler, Babette; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Kim, Kwang Sik; Romero, Ignacio A.; Jopling, Catherine; Morgello, Susan; Balfe, Peter and McKeating, Jane A.
Gastroenterology, 142(3) (pp. 634-643.e6)

CCL2 binding is CCR2 independent in primary adult human astrocytes (2012-02-09)
Fouillet, A.; Mawson, J.; Suliman, O.; Sharrack, B.; Romero, I. A. and Woodroofe, M. N.
Brain research, 1437 (pp. 115-26)

The transport of nifurtimox, an anti-trypanosomal drug, in an in vitro model of the human blood-brain barrier: Evidence for involvement of breast cancer resistance protein (2012-02)
Watson, Christopher P.; Dogruel, Murat; Mihoreanu, Larisa; Begley, David J.; Weksler, Babette B.; Couraud, Pierre O.; Romero, Ignacio A. and Thomas, Sarah A.
Brain research, 1436 (pp. 111-121)

Purine receptors and Ca²⁺ signalling in the human blood-brain barrier endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 (2012)
Bintig, Willem; Begandt, Daniela; Schlingmann, Barbara; Gerhard, Linda; Pangalos, Maria; Dreyer, Lutz; Hohnjec, Natalija; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette B. and Ngezahayo, Anaclet
Purinergic Signalling, 8(1) (pp. 71-80)

Role of caspases in cytokine-induced barrier breakdown in human brain endothelial cells (2012)
Lopez-Ramirez, Alejandro; Fischer, Roman; Torres-Badillo, Claudia C.; Davies, Heather A.; Logan, Karen; Pfizenmaier, Klaus; Male, David K.; Sharrack, Basil and Romero, Ignacio A.
Journal of Immunology, 189(6) (pp. 3130-3139)

Uptake and cytotoxicity of citrate-coated gold nanospheres: Comparative studies on human endothelial and epithelial cells (2012)
Freese, Christian; Uboldi, Chiara; Gibson, Matthew I.; Unger, Ronald E.; Weksler, Babette B.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier and Kirkpatrick, C. J.
Particle and Fibre Toxicology, 9, Article 23

Expression and localization of claudins-3 and -12 in transformed human brain endothelium (2012)
Schrade, Anja; Sade, Hadassah; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette B and Niewoehner, Jens
Fluids and barriers of the CNS, 9 (p 6)

Development of a three-dimensional, all-human in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier using mono-, co-, and tri-cultivation Transwell models (2011-08)
Hatherell, Kathryn; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette and Pilkington, Geoffrey J.
Journal of neuroscience methods, 199(2) (pp. 223-229)

Tyrosine phosphorylation of VE-cadherin and claudin-5 is associated with TGF-β1-induced permeability of centrally derived vascular endothelium (2011-04)
Shen, Weiyong; Li, Shiying; Chung, Sook Hyun; Zhu, Ling; Stayt, Jason; Su, Tao; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette and Gillies, Mark C.
European Journal of Cell Biology, 90(4) (pp. 323-332)

Uptake and permeability studies of BBB-targeting immunoliposomes using the hCMEC/D3 cell line (2011-02)
Markoutsa, Eleni; Pampalakis, Georgios; Niarakis, Anna; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier and Antimisiaris, Sophia G.
European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 77(2) (pp. 265-274)

Surface characteristics of nanoparticles determine their intracellular fate in and processing by human blood–brain barrier endothelial cells in vitro (2011)
Georgieva, Julia V.; Kalicharan, Dharamdajal; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Hoekstra, Dick and Zuhorn, Inge S
Molecular Therapy, 19(2) (pp. 318-325)

Insights into the putative catechin and epicatechin transport across blood-brain barrier (2011)
Faria, Ana; Pestana, Diogo; Teixeira, Diana; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette; de Freitas, Victor; Mateus, Nuno and Calhau, Conceição
Food & Function(2) (pp. 39-44)

Human brain endothelial cells are responsive to adenosine receptor activation (2011)
Mills, Jeffrey H.; Alabanza, Leah; Weksler, Babette B.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A. and Bynoe, Margaret S.
Purinergic Signalling, 7(2) (pp. 265-273)

Gliovascular and cytokine interactions modulate brain endothelial barrier in vitro (2011)
Chaitanya, Ganta V.; Cromer, Walter E.; Wells, Shannon R.; Jennings, Merilyn H.; Couraud, P. Oliver; Romero, Ignacio A; Weksler, Babette; Erdreich-Epstein, Anat; Mathis, James Michael; Minagar, Alireza and Alexander, J. Steven
Journal of Neuroinflammation, 8(162)

A novel vascular targeting strategy for brain-derived endothelial cells using a TCR mimic antibody (2010-11)
Bhattacharya, Raktima; Xu, Yan; Rahman, Md. Ashequr; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette B.; Weidanz, Jon A. and Bickel, Ulrich
Journal of Cellular Physiology, 225(3) (pp. 664-672)

ABC and SLC transporter expression and POT substrate characterization across the human CMEC/D3 blood-brain barrier cell line (2010-08-02)
Carl, Stephen M.; Lindley, David J.; Couraud, Pierre O.; Weksler, Babette B.; Romero, Ignacio; Mowery, Stephanie A. and Knipp, Gregory T.
Molecular Pharmaceutics, 7(4) (pp. 1057-1068)

Amyloid-β-induced occludin down-regulation and increased permeability in human brain endothelial cells is mediated by MAPK activation (2010-01)
Tai, L. M.; Holloway, K. A.; Male, D. K.; Loughlin, A. J. and Romero, I. A
Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, 14(5) (pp. 1101-1112)

Differential activation of mitochondrial apoptotic pathways by vasculotropic amyloid-β variants in cells composing the cerebral vessel walls (2010)
Fossati, S.; Cam, J.; Meyerson, J.; Mezhericher, E.; Romero, I. A.; Couraud, P. O.; Weksler, B. B.; Ghiso, J. and Rostagno, A.
FASEB Journal, 24(1) (pp. 229-241)

Evaluation of soluble junctional adhesion molecule-a as a biomarker of human brain endothelial barrier breakdown (2010)
Najbauer, Joseph; Haarmann, Axel; Deiß, Annika; Prochaska, Jürgen; Foerch, Christian; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Stoll, Guido; Rieckmann, Peter and Buttmann, Mathias
PLoS ONE, 5(10) (e13568)

Identification of peptide ligands for targeting to the blood-brain barrier (2010)
van Rooy, Inge; Cakir-Tascioglu, Serpil; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Storm, Gert; Hennink, Wim E.; Schiffelers, Raymond M. and Mastrobattista, Enrico
Pharmaceutical Research, 27(4) (pp. 673-682)

Methamphetamine disrupts blood–brain barrier function by induction of oxidative stress in brain endothelial cells (2009-12)
Ramirez, Servio H.; Potula, Raghava; Fan, Shongshan; Eidem, Tess; Papugani, Anil; Reichenbach, Nancy; Dykstra, Holly; Weksler, Babette B.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Couraud, Pierre O. and Persidsky, Yuri
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 29(12) (pp. 1933-1945)

Immortalized Human Brain Endothelial Cell Line HCMEC/D3 as a Model of the Blood-Brain Barrier Facilitates In Vitro Studies of Central Nervous System Infection by Cryptococcus neoformans (2009-11)
Vu, Kiem; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio A; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier and Gelli, Angie
Eukaryotic Cell, 8(11) (pp. 1803-1807)

Modulation of blood-brain barrier permeability by neutrophils: in vitro and in vivo studies (2009-10)
Joice, Shannon L.; Mydeen, Firdau; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Weksler, Babette B.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Fraser, Paul A. and Easton, Alexander S.
Brain Research, 1298 (pp. 13-23)

Polarized P-glycoprotein expression by the immortalised human brain endothelial cell line, hCMEC/D3, restricts apical-to-basolateral permeability to rhodamine 123 (2009-09-23)
Tai, Leon M.; Reddy, P. Sreekanth; Lopez-Ramirez, M. Alejandro; Davies, Heather A.; Male, A. David K.; Loughlin, A. Jane and Romero, Ignacio A.
Brain Research, 1292 (pp. 14-24)

Signaling mechanism of extracellular RNA in endothelial cells (2009-07)
Fischer, Silvia; Nishio, Miwako; Peters, Saskia C.; Tschernatsch, Marlene; Walberer, Maureen; Weidemann, Susanne; Heidenreich, Regina; Couraud, Pierre O.; Weksler, Babette B.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Gerriets, Tibo and Preissner, Klaus T.
FASEB Journal, 23(7) (pp. 2100-2109)

Meningococcal type IV pili recruit the polarity complex to cross the brain endothelium (2009-06-11)
Coureuil, Mathieu; Mikaty, Guillain; Miller, Florence; Lécuyer, Hervé; Bernard, Christine; Bourdoulous, Sandrine; Duménil, Guillaume; Mège, René-Marc; Weksler, Babette B.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Couraud, Pierre Olivier and Nassif, Xavier
Science, 325(5936) (pp. 83-87)

P-glycoprotein and breast cancer resistance protein restrict apical-to-basolateral permeability of human brain endothelium to amyloid-β (2009-06)
Tai, Leon M.; Loughlin, A. Jane; Male, David K. and Romero, Ignacio A.
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 29(6) (pp. 1079-1083)

Expression of ADAM-17, TIMP-3 and fractalkine in the human adult brain endothelial cell line, hCMEC/D3, following pro-inflammatory cytokine treatment (2009-03-25)
Hurst, Louise A.; Bunning, Rowena A.D.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette B.; Sharrack, Basil and Woodroofe, M. Nicola
Journal of Neuroimmunology, 210(1-2) (pp. 108-112)

Expression of inflammatory genes induced by beta-amyloid peptides in human brain endothelial cells and in Alzheimer's brain is mediated by the JNK-AP1 signaling pathway (2009-03-18)
Vukic, Vanja; Callaghan, Debbie; Walker, David; Lue, Lih-Fen; Liu, Qing Yan; Couraud, Pierre-Oliver; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Stanimirovic, Danica B. and Zhang, Wandong
Neurobiology of Disease, 34(1) (pp. 95-106)

Up-regulation of P-glycoprotein by HIV protease inhibitors in a human brain microvessel endothelial cell line (2009-03-14)
Zastre, Jason A.; Chan, Gary N. Y.; Ronaldson, Patrick T.; Ramaswamy, Manisha; Couraud, Pierre O.; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Bendayan, Moise and Bendayan, Reina
Journal of Neuroscience Research, 87(4) (pp. 1023-1036)

Expression and transcriptional regulation of ABC transporters and cytochromes P450 in hCMEC/D3 human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (2009-03)
Dauchy, Sandrine; Miller, Florence; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Weaver, Richard, J.; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio A.; Scherrmann, Jean-Michel; De Waziers, Isabelle and Decleves, Xavier
Biochemical Pharmacology, 77(5) (pp. 897-909)

Transcriptional control of occludin expression in vascular endothelia: regulation by Sp3 and YY1 (2009-03)
Sade, Hadassah; Holloway, Karen; Romero, Ignacio A. and Male, David
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms, 1789(3) (pp. 175-184)

Expression of chemokines and their receptors by human brain endothelium: Implications for multiple sclerosis (2009-03)
Subileau, Eve A; Rezaie, Payam; Davies, Heather; Colyer, Frances; Greenwood, John; Male, David and Romero, Ignacio A
Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 68(3) (pp. 227-240)

Peripheral blood CD4+ T lymphocytes from multiple sclerosis patients are characterized by higher PSGL-1 expression and transmigration capacity across a human blood-brain barrier-derived endothelial cell line (2009)
Bahbouhi, Bouchaib; Berthelot, Laureline; Pettré, Ségolène; Michel, Laure; Wiertlewski, Sandrine; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio A.; Miller, Florence; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Brouard, Sophie; Laplaud, David-Axel and Soulillou, Jean-Paul
Journal of Leukocyte Biology, 86(5) (pp. 1049-1063)

Molecular cytogenetic characterization of the human cerebral microvessel endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 (2009)
Mkrtchyan, H.; Scheler, S.; Klein, I.; Fahr, A.; Couraud, P. O.; Romero, I. A.; Weksler, B. and Liehr, T.
Cytogenetic and Genome Research, 126 (pp. 313-317)

The human brain endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 as a human blood-brain barrier model for drug transport studies (2008-12)
Poller, Birk; Gutmann, Heike; Krahenbuhl, Stephan; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio A.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Tuffin, Gerald; Drewe, Jürgen and Huwyler, Jörg
Journal of Neurochemistry, 107(5) (pp. 1358-1368)

Alteration of blood–brain barrier integrity by retroviral infection (2008-11-04)
Afonso, Philippe V.; Ozden, Simona; Cumont, Marie-Christine; Seilhean, Danielle; Cartier, Luis; Rezaie, Payam; Mason, Sarah; Lambert, Sophie; Huerre, Michel; Gessain, Antoine; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Pique, Claudine; Ceccaldi, Pierre-Emmanuel and Romero, Ignacio A.
PLoS Pathogens, 4, Article e1000205(11)

Hyperosmotic stress induces Axl activation and cleavage in cerebral endothelial cells (2008-10)
Wilhelm, Imola; Nagyoszi, Péter; Farkas, Attila E.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette; Fazakas, Csilla; Dung, Ngo Thi Khue; Bottka, Sándor; Bauer, Hannelore; Bauer, Hans-Christian and Krizbai, István A.
Journal of Neurochemistry, 107(1) (pp. 116-126)

Chemokine production and chemokine receptor expression by human glioma cells: Role of CXCL10 in tumour cell proliferation (2008-08)
Maru, Seema V.; Holloway, Karen A.; Flynn, Geraldine; Lancashire, Christine L.; Loughlin, A. Jane; Male, David K. and Romero, Ignacio A.
Journal of Neuroimmunology, 199(1-2) (pp. 35-45)

Simvastatin Protects against Amyloid β and HIV-1 Tat-Induced Promoter Activities of Inflammatory Genes in Brain Endothelial Cells (2008-05)
András, I. E.; Rha, G.; Huang, W.; Eum, S.; Couraud, P. O.; Romero, I. A.; Henning, B. and Toborek, M.
Molecular Pharmacology, 73(5) (pp. 1424-1433)

Differential effects of hydrocortisone and TNFα on tight junction proteins in an in vitro model of the human blood–brain barrier (2008-04-01)
Förster, C.; Burek, M.; Romero, I. A.; Weksler, B.; Couraud, P. O. and Drenckhahn, D.
The Journal of Physiology, 586(7) (pp. 1937-1949)

Immortalized human brain endothelial cells and flow-based vascular modeling: a marriage of convenience for rational neurovascular studies (2008-02)
Cucullo, Luca; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Weksler, Babette; Romero, Ignacio-Andres; Hossain, Mohammed M; Rapp, Edward and Janigro, Damir
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 28(2) (pp. 312-328)

Activation of β-catenin signalling by GSK-3 inhibition increases p-glycoprotein expression in brain endothelial cells (2008)
Lim, Joseph C.; Kania, Katarzyna D.; Wijesuriya, Hasini; Chawla, Sangeeta; Sethi, Jaswinder K.; Pulaski, Lukasz; Romero, Ignacio A.; Couraud, Pierre O.; Weksler, Babette B.; Hladky, Stephen B. and Barrand, Margery A.
Journal of Neurochemistry, 106(4) (pp. 1855-1865)

Reactive oxygen species alter brain endothelial tight junction dynamics via RhoA, PI3 kinase, and PKB signaling (2007-11)
Schreibelt, G.; Kooij, G.; Reijerkerk, A.; van Doorn, R.; Gringhuis, S.I.; van der Poll, S.M.A.; Weksler, B.B.; Romero, Ignacio A; Couraud, P.O.; Piontek, J.; Blasig, I.E.; Dijkstra, Christine D.; Ronken, E. and de Vries, H.E.
FASEB Journal, 21(13) (pp. 3666-3676)

Regulation of cerebral endothelial cell morphology by extracellular calcium (2007-10-21)
Wilhelm, Imola; Farkas, Attila E.; Nagyoszi, Peter; Varo, Gyorgy; Balint, Zoltan; Vegh, Gergely A.; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Romero, Ignacio A.; Weksler, Babette and Krizbai, Istvan A.
Physics in medicine and biology, 52(20) (pp. 6261-6274)

Human Blood Brain Barrier Disruption by Retroviral Infected Lymphocytes: Role of Myosin Light Chain Kinase in Endothelial Tight-Junction Disorganization (2007-08-15)
Afonso, P.V.; Ozden, S.; Prevost, M.C.; Schmitt, C.; Seilhan, D.; Weksler, B.B.; Couraud, P.O.; Gessain, A.; Romero, I.A. and Ceccaldi, P.E.
Journal of Immunology, 179(4) (pp. 2576-2583)

Action of transcription factors in the control of transferrin receptor expression in human brain endothelium (2007-02-02)
Holloway, Karen; Sade, Hadassah; Romero, Ignacio A. and Male, David
Journal of Molecular Biology, 365(5) (pp. 1271-1284)

Blood-brain barrier-specific properties of a human adult brain endothelial cell line (2005-09)
Weksler, B.B.; Subileau, E.A.; Perriere, N.; Charneau, P.; Holloway, K.; Leveque, M.; Tricoire-Leignel, H.; Nicotra, A.; Bourdolos, S.; Tourowski, P.; Male, D.K.; Roux, F.; Greenwood, J.; Romero, I.A. and Couraud, P.O.
FASEB Journal, 19(13) (pp. 1872-1874)

Oxidative stress affects the junctional integrity of retinal pigment epithelial cells (2004-02)
Bailey, T. A.; Kanuga, N.; Romero, I. A.; Greenwood, J.; Luthert, P. J. and Cheetham, M. E.
Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 45(2) (pp. 675-684)

Secretion of interleukin-1β by astrocytes mediates endothelin-1 and tumour necrosis factor-α effects on human brain microvascular endothelial cell permeability (2003-07)
Didier, Nathalie; Romero, Ignacio A.; Creminon, Christophe; Wijkhuisen, Anne; Grassi, Jacques and Mabondzo, Aloise
Journal of Neurochemistry, 86(1) (pp. 246-254)

Changes in cytoskeletal and tight junctional proteins correlate with decreased permeability induced by dexamethasone in cultured rat brain endothelial cells (2003-06-26)
Romero, I.A.; Radewicz, K.; Jubin, E.; Michel, C.C.; Greenwood, J.; Couraud, P.O. and Adamson, P.
Neuroscience Letters, 344(2) (pp. 112-116)

Regulation of chemokine receptor expression in human microglia and astrocytes (2003-03)
Flynn, Geraldine; Maru, Seema; Loughlin, Jane; Romero, Ignacio A. and Male, David
Journal of Neuroimmunology, 136(1-2) (pp. 84-93)

Ezrin and moesin co-localise with ICAM-1 in brain endothelial cells but are not directly associated (2002-09-30)
Romero, I.A.; Amos, C.L.; Greenwood, J. and Adamson, P.
Molecular Brain Research, 105(1-2) (pp. 47-59)

Human adipose cells express CD4, CXCR4, and CCR5 receptors: a new target cell type for the immunodeficiency virus-1? (2002-08)
Romero, Ignacio A.; Hazan, Uriel; Cancello, Raffaella; Valente, Susana; Perrin, Virginie; Mariot, Virginie; Dumonceaux, Julie; Cindy C., Gerhardt; Strosberg, A. Donny; Courard, Pierre-Olivier and Pietri-Rouxel, France
FASEB Journal, 16(8) (pp. 1254-1256)

Chemokines control fat accumulation and leptin secretion by cultured human adipocytes (2001-04-25)
Gerhardt, C. C.; Romero, Ignacio A; Cancello, R.; Camoin, L. and Strosberg, A. D.
Molecular and cellular endocrinology, 175(1 - 2) (pp. 81-92)

Cross-linking of brain endothelial intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 induces association of ICAM-1 with detergent-insoluble cytoskeletal fraction (2001)
Amos, Claire; Romero, Ignacio A.; Schulze, Charlotte; Rousell, Jonathan; Pearson, Jeremy D.; Greenwood, John and Adamson, Peter
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 21 (pp. 810-816)

Book chapters

An In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier Model to Study Firm Shear Stress-Resistant Leukocyte Adhesion to Human Brain Endothelial Cells (2022-06-23)
Cerutti, Camilla and Romero, Ignacio A.
In: Stone, Nicole ed. The Blood-Brain Barrier: Methods and Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology (pp. 315-331)
ISBN : 978-1-0716-2289-6 | Publisher : Humana, New York

Conference items

Long non-coding RNAs are key players in Prostate cancer tumorigenesis and drug resistance (2020-10)
Pucci, Perla; Crea, Francesco; Alborelli, Ilaria; Quagliata, Luca; Bootman, Martin; Rigas, Sushilaben; Romero, Ignacio and Wang, Yuzhuo
In : 27th Annual PCF Scientific Retreat Virtual Poster Session (20-23 Oct 2020, Virtual)

The role of long non-coding RNAs in breast cancer dissemination to the brain (2018-05)
Juan-Larrea, Naiara; Mather, Rebecca; Romero, Ignacio A.; Sibson, Nicola R. and Crea, Francesco
In : CRUK brain tumour conference (1-3 May 2018, London)

Toxicity and internalization of polymeric nanoparticles in brain endothelial cells (2017-10-27)
Silva de Abreu, Marcelle; Calpena, Ana C.; Espina, Marta; Garcia, Maria Luisa; Romero, Ignacio A. and Male, David
In : 20th International Symposium on Signal Transduction at the Blood-Brain Barrier (13-15 Sep 2017, Krakow, Poland) (p 19)

Identification of a long non-coding RNA that mediates response to therapy in castration-resistant prostate cancer (2017)
Pucci, Perla; Venalainen, Erik; Mather, Rebecca; Xue, Hui; Rigas, Sushila; Romero, Ignacio A; Wang, Yuzho and Crea, Francesco
In : 3rd International Cancer Symposium (25-27 Sep 2017, Lyon, France)

Age-related changes in blood-brain barrier integrity in C57BL/6J mice (2013)
Wang, C.; Saffrey, M. J. and Romero, I. A.
In : British Society for Research on Ageing Annual Scientific Meeting (2-4 Sep 2013, Institute of Food Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich) (p 36)

Effects of neurotrophic factors on neurochemical differentiation of postnatal rat myenteric plexus ganglion cells in vitro (2003)
Xeniou, Ourania; Romero, Ignacio A and Saffrey, Jill
In : British Neuroscience Association 17th National meeting (13-16 Apr 2003, Harrogate, UK) (p 48)

The role of neurotrophic factors and extracellular matrix components in postnatal myenteric neuronal differentiation (2003)
Xeniou, O.; Romero, I. and Saffrey, M. J.
In : Enteric Nervous System 2003, An International Conference devoted to studies of the enteric nervous system (9-13 Jul 2003, Banff, Alberta, Canada) (p 201)

Other

Human Blood Brain Barrier Model (2006-06-01)
Couraud, P.O.; Romero, I.A. and Weksler, B.B.

Research at The Open University

You are here