Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • Vascular Malformations (Apr 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Trafficking of immune cells in the central nervous system
Emma H. Wilson, … , Wolfgang Weninger, Christopher A. Hunter
Emma H. Wilson, … , Wolfgang Weninger, Christopher A. Hunter
Published May 3, 2010
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2010;120(5):1368-1379. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI41911.
View: Text | PDF
Science in Medicine

Trafficking of immune cells in the central nervous system

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

The CNS is an immune-privileged environment, yet the local control of multiple pathogens is dependent on the ability of immune cells to access and operate within this site. However, inflammation of the distinct anatomical sites (i.e., meninges, cerebrospinal fluid, and parenchyma) associated with the CNS can also be deleterious. Therefore, control of lymphocyte entry and migration within the brain is vital to regulate protective and pathological responses. In this review, several recent advances are highlighted that provide new insights into the processes that regulate leukocyte access to, and movement within, the brain.

Authors

Emma H. Wilson, Wolfgang Weninger, Christopher A. Hunter

×

Figure 1

The structure of the brain and routes of leukocyte entry.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
The structure of the brain and routes of leukocyte entry.
Beneath the sk...
Beneath the skull lie three membranes that enclose the parenchyma of the brain: the dura mater, the arachnoid membrane, and the pia mater. The latter two enclose the subarachnoid space. (i) Leukocytes can enter across the choroid plexus, where CSF is produced by the choroid plexus epithelium in the ventricles. CSF containing leukocytes then enters the subarachnoid space, circulates around the brain, and (ii) exits via the venous sinus to be resorbed by the blood via the arachnoid villi. (iii) Blood supply to the brain enters in the subarachnoid space over the pia mater, generating the perivascular space (or Virchow-Robin space). Main arterial branches divide into capillaries, which terminate deep within the brain, supplying the parenchyma with blood. Leukocytes can potentially enter from the blood (iii), which requires them to cross the tightly regulated vascular endothelium (i.e., the BBB: the glia limitans, the subarachnoid space, and the pia mater). Cells can adhere to the endothelium and arrest at any point during this process.

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts