The inner CSF-brain barrier: developmentally controlled access to the brain via intercellular junctions.

ABSTRACT: In the adult the interface between the cerebrospinal fluid and the brain is lined by the ependymal cells, which are joined by gap junctions. These intercellular connections do not provide a diffusional restrain between the two compartments. However, during development this interface, initially consisting of neuroepithelial cells and later radial glial cells, is characterized by "strap" junctions, which limit the exchange of different sized molecules between cerebrospinal fluid and the brain parenchyma. Here we provide a systematic study of permeability properties of this inner cerebrospinal fluid-brain barrier during mouse development from embryonic day, E17 until adult. Results show that at fetal stages exchange across this barrier is restricted to the smallest molecules (286Da) and the d

SUBMITTER: Whish S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4325900 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature