Blood-Brain Barrier Proteomics

Dear Colleagues,

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) contributes to brain homeostasis by regulating the passage of endogenous and exogenous compounds. Despite decades of research and progress, the BBB is not completely characterized and crossing the BBB remains a critical obstacle in drug development to fight central nervous system (CNS) diseases, i.e., brain tumours, neurodegeneration, neurological disorders, etc. Since the initial discovery of a physiological and physical barrier separating the CNS from the peripheral system, it has progressively been demonstrated that the BBB is a dynamic barrier, thanks to the occurrence of specialized proteins, namely transporters, receptors, efflux pumps, etc. It is now acknowledged that the microvascular endothelium, astrocytes, pericytes and neurons participate in the barrier’s function and constitute the assembly of cells, more recently called “neurovascular unit” (NVU). In addition, the extracellular matrix also plays a crucial role in the NVU. This view of the BBB is critical to understand its development and its physiology. Nowadays, the BBB is considered to be constituted of a gathering of NVU units along the brain vascular tree that give to the BBB and the brain its unique features.

The genomic and proteomic technologies used over the last two decades has already provided several means to extend the BBB knowledge and to investigate additional routes to bypass this barrier. These profiling technologies have been applied to BBB models to decipher the physiological characteristics and, under stress conditions, to understand the molecular mechanisms of brain diseases. Now that the work is in progress to understand the human BBB, it will be necessary to identify the molecular expression, to clarify interspecies and in vivo–in vitro differences, and to estimate transport function in humans. Certainly a thorough proteomic analysis will provide additional information concerning brain pathologies or BBB metabolism.

This Special Issue of Proteomes welcomes submissions of original research or review articles aiming to unravel the physiological and pathological functioning of BBB with the use of proteomics tools. We ask experts in the field to contribute their most recent research and perspectives on this fascinating and rapidly progressing topic.

Prof. Dr. Yannis Karamanos
Dr. Gwenael Pottiez
Guest Editors

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• Blood-brain barrier
• Brain capillary endothelial cells
• Neurovascular unit
• Drug development
• Proteomics
• Quantitative proteomics