Brain Barrier Research: Mechanisms, Function, Regulation, and Therapeutic Medicine
A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Physiology and Pathology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (9 January 2026) | Viewed by 1134
Special Issue Editor
Interests: choroid plexus; cerebrospinal fluid; brain homeostasis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Brain function is ensured by the presence of important interfaces, including the brain barriers that separate the central nervous system from the blood. There are three main barriers: the blood–brain barrier (BBB), the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB), and the arachnoid barrier (AB). The BBB presents an extensive surface area and is mainly formed by brain capillary endothelial cells but also by astrocytes, pericytes, and neurons. The BCSFB is composed of choroid plexus epithelial cells that, besides barrier function, are also responsible for most of the CSF production and secretion into brain ventricles, the biosynthesis of proteins and hormones, and chemical surveillance. The AB, composed of epithelial cells of the meninges, is another interface between the blood and the CSF and participates in CSF formation. At all three barriers, the paracellular pathway is highly restricted by the tight junctions that connect the brain endothelial cells, choroid plexus epithelial cells, or epithelial cells of the meninges. In addition, they present specific transporters and metabolic enzymes that ensure the composition of brain fluids and central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis. Therefore, the dysfunction of these structures has been related to CNS disorders. On the other hand, brain barriers, particularly the BBB and BCSFB, have been a major obstacle to brain drug delivery. For this reason, the development of drugs that can cross these structures and reach their targets in the brain remains a challenge.
This Special Issue aims to highlight the pathophysiological mechanisms of brain barriers, contributing to a better understanding of brain barrier functions and how their impairment can be related to CNS disorders, including neurodegenerative disorders, tumors, and cancer. Additionally, it is of the utmost importance to investigate new drug targets at brain barriers. Thus, we invite experts working in the field of brain barriers to contribute their recent research to this Special Issue.
Prof. Dr. Ana Catarina Duarte
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- brain barriers
- brain homeostasis
- neurodegeneration
- neuroinflammation
- brain drug delivery
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