How tumors break down the blood-brain barrier (IMAGE)

University of California - Berkeley

How tumors break down the blood-brain barrier

Caption

In fruit flies (top row) and mice (bottom row), cytokines (yellow arrow) released from distant tumors (red mass) break down a barrier that normally protects the brain. These leaks allow molecules circulating in the blood to invade the brain, as shown by the green dye that has diffused through the barrier (center column). The right column shows brains of flies and mice without tumors, which show no brain leaks.

Credit

UC Berkeley photo by Jung Kim and Hsiu-Chun Chuang

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