Breaking into the brain

摘要

Immune cells can normally penetrate the barrier between the bloodstream and the brain only when the cells along this barrier are inflamed. So how do immune cells enter the brain to initiate the sort of inflammation associated with autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis?Federica Sallusto of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzerland, and her colleagues showed that the cells enter through the choroid plexus, the brain region where cerebrospinal fluid is made.