The Blood–Brain Barrier and Its Intercellular Junctions in Age-Related Brain Disorders
With age, our cognitive skills and abilities decline. Maybe starting as an annoyance, this decline can become a major impediment to normal daily life. Recent research shows that the neurodegenerative disorders responsible for age associated cognitive dysfunction are mechanistically linked to the sta...
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doaj-d01b678997584f69b290d6e18d75e9152020-11-25T02:36:22ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1422-00672019-11-012021547210.3390/ijms20215472ijms20215472The Blood–Brain Barrier and Its Intercellular Junctions in Age-Related Brain DisordersLaura Costea0Ádám Mészáros1Hannelore Bauer2Hans-Christian Bauer3Andreas Traweger4Imola Wilhelm5Attila E. Farkas6István A. Krizbai7Institute of Life Sciences, Vasile Goldiş Western University of Arad, 310414 Arad, RomaniaInstitute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre, 6726 Szeged, HungaryDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, AustriaInstitute of Tendon and Bone Regeneration, Paracelsus Medical University—Spinal Cord Injury and Tissue Regeneration Center Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, AustriaInstitute of Tendon and Bone Regeneration, Paracelsus Medical University—Spinal Cord Injury and Tissue Regeneration Center Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, AustriaInstitute of Life Sciences, Vasile Goldiş Western University of Arad, 310414 Arad, RomaniaInstitute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre, 6726 Szeged, HungaryInstitute of Life Sciences, Vasile Goldiş Western University of Arad, 310414 Arad, RomaniaWith age, our cognitive skills and abilities decline. Maybe starting as an annoyance, this decline can become a major impediment to normal daily life. Recent research shows that the neurodegenerative disorders responsible for age associated cognitive dysfunction are mechanistically linked to the state of the microvasculature in the brain. When the microvasculature does not function properly, ischemia, hypoxia, oxidative stress and related pathologic processes ensue, further damaging vascular and neural function. One of the most important and specialized functions of the brain microvasculature is the blood−brain barrier (BBB), which controls the movement of molecules between blood circulation and the brain parenchyma. In this review, we are focusing on tight junctions (TJs), the multiprotein complexes that play an important role in establishing and maintaining barrier function. After a short introduction of the cell types that modulate barrier function via intercellular communication, we examine how age, age related pathologies and the aging of the immune system affects TJs. Then, we review how the TJs are affected in age associated neurodegenerative disorders: Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Lastly, we summarize the TJ aspects of Huntington’s disease and schizophrenia. Barrier dysfunction appears to be a common denominator in neurological disorders, warranting detailed research into the molecular mechanisms behind it. Learning the commonalities and differences in the pathomechanism of the BBB injury in different neurological disorders will predictably lead to development of new therapeutics that improve our life as we age.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/21/5472agingblood–brain barriertight junction |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Laura Costea Ádám Mészáros Hannelore Bauer Hans-Christian Bauer Andreas Traweger Imola Wilhelm Attila E. Farkas István A. Krizbai |
spellingShingle |
Laura Costea Ádám Mészáros Hannelore Bauer Hans-Christian Bauer Andreas Traweger Imola Wilhelm Attila E. Farkas István A. Krizbai The Blood–Brain Barrier and Its Intercellular Junctions in Age-Related Brain Disorders International Journal of Molecular Sciences aging blood–brain barrier tight junction |
author_facet |
Laura Costea Ádám Mészáros Hannelore Bauer Hans-Christian Bauer Andreas Traweger Imola Wilhelm Attila E. Farkas István A. Krizbai |
author_sort |
Laura Costea |
title |
The Blood–Brain Barrier and Its Intercellular Junctions in Age-Related Brain Disorders |
title_short |
The Blood–Brain Barrier and Its Intercellular Junctions in Age-Related Brain Disorders |
title_full |
The Blood–Brain Barrier and Its Intercellular Junctions in Age-Related Brain Disorders |
title_fullStr |
The Blood–Brain Barrier and Its Intercellular Junctions in Age-Related Brain Disorders |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Blood–Brain Barrier and Its Intercellular Junctions in Age-Related Brain Disorders |
title_sort |
blood–brain barrier and its intercellular junctions in age-related brain disorders |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
issn |
1422-0067 |
publishDate |
2019-11-01 |
description |
With age, our cognitive skills and abilities decline. Maybe starting as an annoyance, this decline can become a major impediment to normal daily life. Recent research shows that the neurodegenerative disorders responsible for age associated cognitive dysfunction are mechanistically linked to the state of the microvasculature in the brain. When the microvasculature does not function properly, ischemia, hypoxia, oxidative stress and related pathologic processes ensue, further damaging vascular and neural function. One of the most important and specialized functions of the brain microvasculature is the blood−brain barrier (BBB), which controls the movement of molecules between blood circulation and the brain parenchyma. In this review, we are focusing on tight junctions (TJs), the multiprotein complexes that play an important role in establishing and maintaining barrier function. After a short introduction of the cell types that modulate barrier function via intercellular communication, we examine how age, age related pathologies and the aging of the immune system affects TJs. Then, we review how the TJs are affected in age associated neurodegenerative disorders: Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Lastly, we summarize the TJ aspects of Huntington’s disease and schizophrenia. Barrier dysfunction appears to be a common denominator in neurological disorders, warranting detailed research into the molecular mechanisms behind it. Learning the commonalities and differences in the pathomechanism of the BBB injury in different neurological disorders will predictably lead to development of new therapeutics that improve our life as we age. |
topic |
aging blood–brain barrier tight junction |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/21/5472 |
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