Effects of forskolin on growth and morphology of cultured glial and cerebrovascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells.

The present experiments were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of forskolin on cAMP production, growth and morphology on cell cultures of glia, endothelium and smooth muscle derived from brain microvessels. Forskolin significantly increased formation of cAMP and decreased incorporation of thymidine in all three cell types. The thymidine incorporation was reduced dose-dependently with maximal growth inhibition at 100 microM forskolin.

Interaction between myelin basic protein-sensitized T lymphocytes and murine cerebral vascular endothelial cells.

Lymph node cells from SJL mice immunized with guinea pig myelin basic protein proliferate in vitro to the same antigen. This proliferative response is abolished by depletion of macrophages-monocytes, but can be reconstituted by the addition of cerebral vascular endothelial cells (EC) freshly isolated from syngeneic mice with adoptively transferred acute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Reconstitution by EC from mice with EAE can be blocked by pretreatment of EC with syngeneic anti-I-A antisera.

Presentation of myelin basic protein by murine cerebral vascular endothelial cells.

Guinea pig basic protein (GPBP)-sensitized murine lymph node cell cultures depleted of macrophages-monocytes (MO) are no longer able to proliferate in response to specific antigen in vitro. The addition of MO reconstitutes the response that can be blocked by the addition of syngeneic anti-I-A antisera. Freshly isolated murine central nervous system endothelial cells (CNS-EC) cannot replace MO for the presentation of GPBP antigen to specifically sensitized lymph node lymphocytes.

Cell volume regulation of cerebrovascular endothelium in vitro.

Regulation of cell volume as a fundamental cellular function of high biological priority was studied in cultured cerebrovascular endothelium. The use of a multiparameter flow cytometric system allowed simultaneous measurements of cell volume, viability, and membrane potential or intracellular pH. Endothelium, the cellular constituent of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), swells immediately on exposure to low osmolality.

Volume regulation and metabolism of suspended C6 glioma cells: an in vitro model to study cytotoxic brain edema.

The in vitro model presented provides an approach to study the nature of cell volume control as well as of swelling mechanisms under pathophysiological conditions. Pertinent parameters of cell volume control can be analyzed in isolation due to a virtually infinite extracellular environment precluding secondary effects of the suspended cells. Exposure of C6 glial cells to hypotonic medium was investigated as a model to study fundamental aspects of cell volume control.

Therapeutic considerations in blood-brain barrier disturbances.

Current methods of treatment of brain damage, as e.g. edema by steroids and barbiturates, have components which benefit the blood-brain barrier.