Nature：血脑屏障的“真凶”Nature

Nature：血脑屏障的“真凶”Nature中文分享      | 收藏      【 大  中  小】
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生物谷盘点2009
2009年，国内生物医药的突破之年。不仅有干细胞发现的新突破，还有转基因作物政策的新举措。

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血-脑屏障是中枢神经系统与由血管内皮细胞组成的身体其余部分之间的“门卫”。以前的工作支持这样一个观点：该屏障是在出生后形成的，是由从被称为“星形细胞”的非神经细胞向内皮细胞的信号作用形成的。

现在，两项独立的研究工作表明，该屏障实际上是在胚胎生成过程中形成的，被称为“周细胞”的血管周围细胞与上皮细胞之间的相互作用是关键因子。更好地认识“周细胞”、神经内皮细胞和“星形细胞”在血-脑屏障功能中的密切关系，将有助于我们认识在中枢神经系统受伤及疾病过程中这个屏障的破坏。（生物谷Bioon.com）

生物谷推荐英文摘要：

Nature doi:10.1038/nature09522

Pericytes regulate the blood–brain barrier
Annika Armulik,annika.armulik@ki.seGuillem Genové,Maarja M?e,Maya H. Nisancioglu,Elisabet Wallgard,Colin Niaudet,Liqun He,Jenny Norlin,Per Lindblom,Karin Strittmatter,Bengt R. Johansson& Christer Betsholtzchrister.betsholtz@ki.se

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) consists of specific physical barriers, enzymes and transporters, which together maintain the necessary extracellular environment of the central nervous system (CNS)1. The main physical barrier is found in the CNS endothelial cell, and depends on continuous complexes of tight junctions combined with reduced vesicular transport2. Other possible constituents of the BBB include extracellular matrix, astrocytes and pericytes3, but the relative contribution of these different components to the BBB remains largely unknown1, 3. Here we demonstrate a direct role of pericytes at the BBB in vivo. Using a set of viable pericyte-deficient mouse mutants we show that pericyte deficiency increases the permeability of the BBB to water and a range of low-molecular-mass and high-molecular-mass tracers. The increased permeability occurs by endothelial transcytosis, a process that is rapidly arrested by the drug imatinib. Furthermore, we show that pericytes function at the BBB in at least two ways: by regulating BBB-specific gene expression patterns in endothelial cells, and by inducing polarization of astrocyte end-feet surrounding CNS blood vessels. Our results indicate a novel and critical role for pericytes in the integration of endothelial and astrocyte functions at the neurovascular unit, and in the regulation of the BBB.