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Progress in the study of the blood-brain barrier

XU Bing^*, ZHANG Yu, DU Jiu-Lin

Institute of Neuroscience and State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China

Abstract

Blood-brain barrier (BBB) precisely controls the material exchange between the blood and brain tissue, and plays a critical role in the maintenance of brain microenvironment homeostasis. Brain microvascular endothelial cells connect tightly with each other and intertwine with surrounding pericytes and astrocytes to form the BBB. These cells regulate the development and function of the BBB through expressing tight and adherens junction proteins, transporters, and relevant signal molecules. Neurons and microglia can also regulate the function of BBB in physiological and pathological conditions. Recent studies indicate that the occurrence and progress
of various neurological diseases are accompanied with structural and functional impairment of the BBB. Therefore, elucidation of the mechanisms underlying BBB development and function will further benefit our understanding of neurovascular interaction and provide an important theoretical basis for the treatment of neurological diseases. In this review, we briefly summarize the progress of BBB research.

Key words: blood-brain barrier; vascular endothelial cell; pericyte; astrocyte; neuron; neurological diseases

Received: 2015-12-10　　Accepted: 2016-02-26

Corresponding author: 许兵　　E-mail: xubing@ion.ac.cn

Citing This Article：

XU Bing, ZHANG Yu, DU Jiu-Lin. Progress in the study of the blood-brain barrier. Acta Physiol Sin 2016; 68 (3): 306-322 (in Chinese with English abstract).