Abstract
This review by O'Brown et al. discusses the cellular nature of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and the conservation and variation of BBB function across taxa. It compares the BBB across organisms in order to provide insight into the human BBB both under normal physiological conditions and in neurological diseases.
The blood–brain barrier (BBB) restricts free access of molecules between the blood and the brain and is essential for regulating the neural microenvironment. Here, we describe how the BBB was initially characterized and how the current field evaluates barrier properties. We next detail the cellular nature of the BBB and discuss both the conservation and variation of BBB function across taxa. Finally, we examine our current understanding of mouse and zebrafish model systems, as we expect that comparison of the BBB across organisms will provide insight into the human BBB under normal physiological conditions and in neurological diseases.
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