Glycocalyx is critical for blood-brain barrier integrity by suppressing caveolin1-dependent endothelial transcytosis following ischemic stroke.

The breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is related to the occurrence and deterioration of neurological dysfunction in ischemic stroke, which leads to the extravasation of blood-borne substances, resulting in vasogenic edema and increased mortality. However, a limited understanding of the molecular mechanisms that control the restrictive properties of the BBB hinders the manipulation of the BBB in disease and treatment. Here, we found that the glycocalyx (GCX) is a critical factor in the regulation of brain endothelial barrier integrity. First, endothelial GCX displayed a biphasic change pattern, of which the timescale matched well with the biphasic evolution of BBB permeability to tracers within the first week after t-MCAO. Moreover, GCX destruction with hyaluronidase increased BBB permeability in healthy mice and aggravated BBB leakage in transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (t-MCAO) mice. Surprisingly, ultrastructural observation showed that GCX destruction was accompanied by increased endothelial transcytosis at the ischemic BBB, while the tight junctions remained morphologically and functionally intact. Knockdown of caveolin1 (Cav1) suppressed endothelial transcytosis, leading to reduced BBB permeability, and brain edema. Lastly, a coimmunoprecipitation assay showed that GCX degradation enhanced the interaction between syndecan1 and Src by promoting the binding of phosphorylated syndecan1 to the Src SH2 domain, which led to rapid modulation of cytoskeletal proteins to promote caveolae-mediated endocytosis. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the dynamic degradation and reconstruction of GCX may account for the biphasic changes in BBB permeability in ischemic stroke, and reveal an essential role of GCX in suppressing transcellular transport in brain endothelial cells to maintain BBB integrity. Targeting GCX may provide a novel strategy for managing BBB dysfunction and central nervous system drug delivery.