TPA Modulation of the Blood-Brain Barrier: A Unifying Explanation for the Pleiotropic Effects of tPA in the CNS.

ABSTRACT: The plasminogen activation (PA) system is best known for its role in fibrinolysis. However, it has also been shown to regulate many nonfibrinolytic functions in the central nervous system (CNS). In particular, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is reported to have pleiotropic activities in the CNS, regulating events such as neuronal plasticity, excitotoxicity, and cerebrovascular barrier integrity, whereas urokinase-type plasminogen activator is mainly associated with tissue remodeling and cell migration. It has been suggested that the role tPA plays in controlling barrier integrity may provide a unifying mechanism for the reported diverse, and often opposing, functions ascribed to tPA in the CNS. Here we will review the possibility that the pleiotropic effects reported for tPA in phy

SUBMITTER: Fredriksson L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5848490 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature