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. 2013 Sep 26;4:120. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2013.00120

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Copyright © 2013 De Bock, Kerrebrouck, Wang and Leybaert.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Connexins in the neurogliovascular unit. The neurogliovascular unit is a functional unit in which astrocytes are centrally involved. Astrocytic endfeet are tightly associated with endothelial cells that form the BBB while at their other site, astrocytes contact pre- and postsynaptic neuronal membranes. Additionally, astrocytes may contact other glial cells like microglia and oligodendrocytes. Each of the cell types in the neurogliovascular unit is endowed with a set of connexins proteins. Importantly, Cx43 is present in astrocytes as well as in BBB endothelial cells and microglial cells.