Located at the interface between blood and the brain, the blood-brain barrier is a dynamic permeability barrier formed by a continuous layer of specialized endothelial cells endowed with important permeability, transport, and regulatory functions that both protect the internal milieu of the brain and allow essential nutrients to be transported into
Located at the interface between blood and the brain, the blood-brain barrier is a dynamic permeability barrier formed by a continuous layer of specialized endothelial cells endowed with important permeability, transport, and regulatory functions that both protect the internal milieu of the brain and allow essential nutrients to be transported into
This volume focuses on experimental research with applicable models to study physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This book is organized into six parts: Part One is an overview of the physiology of BBB; Part Two explores in vitro cell models to study the BBB; Part Three discusses techniques in vivo and ex vivo models to evaluate BBB in Drosophila melanogaster, Zebrafish, and rodents; Part Four looks at permeability, influx, efflux transportation, and drug delivery through the BBB; Part Five talks about various invasive and non-invasive imaging techniques to study BBB; and Part Six describes how molecular biomarkers are used to look at the integrity or dysfunction of the BBB. In Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory. Cutting-edge and thorough, Blood-Brain Barrier is a valuable resource to aid both novice and experienced investigators with performing experiments using new and classic translational approaches.
Medicinal chemistry is both science and art. The science of medicinal chemistry offers mankind one of its best hopes for improving the quality of life. The art of medicinal chemistry continues to challenge its practitioners with the need for both intuition and experience to discover new drugs. Hence sharing the experience of drug research is uniquely beneficial to the field of medicinal chemistry. Drug research requires interdisciplinary team-work at the interface between chemistry, biology and medicine. Therefore, the topic-related series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry covers all relevant aspects of drug research, e.g. pathobiochemistry of diseases, identification and validation of (emerging) drug targets, structural biology, drugability of targets, drug design approaches, chemogenomics, synthetic chemistry including combinatorial methods, bioorganic chemistry, natural compounds, high-throughput screening, pharmacological in vitro and in vivo investigations, drug-receptor interactions on the molecular level, structure-activity relationships, drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicology and pharmacogenomics. In general, special volumes are edited by well known guest editors.
‘Connectivity and Functional Specialization in the Brain’ is a topic that describes nerve cells in terms of their anatomical and functional connections. The term connectome refers to a comprehensive map of neural connections, like a wiring diagram of an organism’s nervous system. Connectomics, the study of connectomes, can be applied to individual neurons and their synaptic connections, as well as to connections between neuronal populations or to functional and structural connectivity of different brain regions. This book addresses neural connectivity at these various scales in health and disease. The chapters review novel findings related to neuroanatomy and cell biology, neurophysiology, neural plasticity, changes of connectivity in neurological disorders, and sensory system connectivity. The book provides the reader with an overview of the current state-of-the-art of research of neural connectivity and focuses on the most important evidence-based developments in this area. Individual chapters focus on recent advances in specific areas of neural connectivity and in different brain regions. All chapters represent recent contributions to the rapidly developing field of neural connectivity.
Tissue Barriers in Disease, Injury and Regeneration focuses on the molecular and cellular fundamentals of homeostatic and defense responses of tissue barriers, covering the damaging impacts and exposure to pathogens and engineered nanomaterials. Sections emphasize the role of mesenchymal stoma, vascular, epithelial, telocyte, myofibroblast, lymphoid and reticuloendothelial cells, along with reactions that bridge the effects of ambient factors, medical treatments, drag delivery systems with alterations in barrier integrity, tissue/organ functions, and metabolic status. Other sections cover the role of progenitor cells of different origins in the remodeling and regeneration of tissue stroma, vasculature of blood-tissue barriers, and more. - Includes special emphasis on the role of mesenchymal stoma, vascular, epithelial, telocyte, myofibroblast, lymphoid and reticuloendothelial cells in the development of reactions that bridge the effects of ambient factors, medical treatments, drag delivery systems with alterations in barrier integrity, tissue/organ functions, and in metabolic status - Examines the role of progenitor cells of different origins in the remodeling and regeneration of tissue stroma, the vasculature of blood-tissue barriers, and mucosa and external epithelium
Despite the existence of two barrier systems in the brain, research over the last century has mostly focused on the blood-brain barrier rather than on the blood-CSF barrier. Today, there is a greater understanding of the function of the blood-CSF barrier and of the choroid plexus, a tissue that is the primary site of this barrier. With the growing number of studies that focus on the role of the blood-CSF barrier in CNS homeostasis and neurological disorders, a modern overview of the blood-CSF barrier is long overdue. The Blood-Cerebrospinal Fluid Barrier is exclusively devoted to the blood-CSF barrier. Internationally renowned experts discuss the most recent progress in the field of choroid plexus physiology and update our knowledge of the function of the blood-CSF barrier. The book begins with an overview of the development and morphology of the choroid plexus, and then covers various aspects of its function, such as the regulation of choroidal blood flow, ion transport, and the production and transport of polypeptides. Following an extensive section on the role of the choroid plexus in CNS disorders, the final section discusses in vitro, in vivo, and in situ models of the blood-CSF barrier. This unique book analyzes a wealth of new research on the proven and potential roles of the choroid plexus/blood-CSF barrier in the brain. It is a valuable resource that will foster future studies in neuroscience, pharmacology, and toxicology.
The blood-brain barrier is still not completely understood and therefore the subject of fascinating study. How are endogenous substances transported through the blood-brain barrier? What are the known therapeutic and toxic agents? How are they transported across cerebral microvessels? The discussion of these and other questions with far-reaching consequences for all neuroscientists can be found in this volume. This authoritative and up-to-date review of the blood-brain barrier gives a proper understanding of the topic. The experimental principles, the results of very recent research, as well as the implications that experimental research has for clinical treatment are thoroughly covered. Information is given on: - new findings based on classical physiological and pharmacological techniques, - results obtained from brain capillaries in vitro and in culture, - results obtained from the new scanning techniques (PET and MRI), - the immunology of the blood-brain barrier, - trace metal transport, - the pathological breakdown of the barrier and - the modification of drugs to increase their entry into the brain. Here is a source of information that is invaluable to specialists concerned with basic research in the neurosciences, with the design of neuropharmacological agents, with the radiological diagnosis of cerebral pathology or with the treatment of cerebral lesions!
