Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jan 31.
Published in final edited form as: Front Biol (Beijing). 2014 Sep 19;10(1):61–73. doi: 10.1007/s11515-014-1331-y

Figure 3. Regulation of blood-brain barrier (BBB) establishment and maturation by neural signals.

Figure 3

Neural progenitor cells secrete Wnt and Sonic hedgehog (Shh) ligands that activate formation of tight junctions and expression of BBB specific transporters (such as Glut1) within endothelial cells. Pericytes are important for maintaining endothelial tight junction and other BBB properties, but unlikely to be responsible for inducing BBB. Perictye-endothelial cell interaction is mediated by N-Cadherin, which is positively regulated by TGFβ/BMP/Smad4 signaling within endothelial cells.