Transport of ions across the blood-brain barrier
Betz, A.L.
Federation Proceedings 45(7): 2050-2054
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0014-9446 PMID: 3011518 Document Number: 268701
Studies of sodium and potassium transport by brain capillaries indicate that the endothelial cell contains distinct types of ion transport systems on the two sides of the capillary wall, i.e., the luminal and antiluminal membranes of the endothelial cell. As a result, specific solutes can be pumped across the capillary against an electrochemical gradient. These transport systems are likely to play a role in the active secretion of fluid from blood to brain and in maintaining a constant concentration of ions in the brain's interstitial fluid. In this way, the brain capillary endothelium is structurally and functionally related to an epithelium.