Saturday, July 1, 2023

Decreased filamentous actin and tight junction protein expression, and paracellular permeability in Frataxin-deficient human brain microvascular endothelial cells – implications for blood-brain barrier integrity in Friedreich's Ataxia

Smith FM, Kosman DJ. Decreased filamentous actin and tight junction protein expression, and paracellular permeability in Frataxin-deficient human brain microvascular endothelial cells – implications for blood-brain barrier integrity in Friedreich's Ataxia. Research Square; 2023. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3025871/v1. 

 We identified that insufficient FXN levels in the hBMVEC BBB model causes changes in cytoskeletal architecture and tight junction protein abundance, co-incident with increased barrier permeability. Changes in the integrity of the BBB may be related to patient brain iron accumulation, neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and stroke. Furthermore, our findings implicate other barrier cells, e.g. , the cardiac microvasculature, likely contributory also to disease pathology in FRDA.