Unveiling the Role of the Blood-Brain Barrier and Choroid Plexus Disruption in Aging and Neurodegeneration

The central nervous system (CNS) is tightly shielded from the bloodstream by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (B-CSFB) formed by the choroid plexus (CP). The BBB, composed of endothelial cells, astrocytes, and pericytes, is essential for maintaining brain homeostasis by enabling an exquisite control of exchange of compounds between the blood and the brain parenchyma. Meanwhile, the CP, a network of capillaries and epithelial cells, produces cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), facilitating metabolic waste removal and neurochemical signaling. Aging and neurodegeneration are frequently associated with structural and functional changes in these barriers, leading to heightened permeability and disrupted homeostasis. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for identifying novel therapeutic targets and developing strategies to mitigate age-related and neurodegenerative conditions.

With this Research Topic we would like to address the impact of aging and neurodegeneration on the brain barriers and how these changes contribute to exacerbate these conditions.

The knowledge coming from high-resolution imaging techniques for real-time barriers assessment, studies uncovering underlying molecular mechanisms, and innovative therapeutic approaches such as targeted drug delivery and modulation of the immune response, could contribute to pave the way to mitigating barrier dysfunction, alleviating neurodegenerative symptoms, and enhancing patient outcomes in aging-related disorders.

We warmly invite original research articles, reviews, and perspectives covering topics including:

- Impact of neuroinflammation on brain barrier integrity and on neuronal health.

- Molecular mechanisms of brain barriers disruption in aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

- Changes in brain barrier permeability in aging and neurodegenerative diseases, including biomarker identification.

- Studies on altered cerebrospinal fluid dynamics and their contribution to aging and/or neurodegeneration.

- Therapeutic strategies to restore or mitigate brain barriers dysfunction in aging and neurodegeneration.

Keywords: Brain barriers, neuroinflammation, immune response, vasculature, molecular targets, immunotherapy

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.