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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Feb 13.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2014 Jul;15(7):455–465. doi: 10.1038/nrn3765

Figure 3. Glioma cells break down the blood–brain barrior.

Figure 3

a | In the healthy brain, astrocytic endfeet surround blood vessels. Vascular endothelial cells form the blood–brain barrier (BBB) though tight junctions, trapping cells and serum components in the vascular lumen. b | Glioma cells migrate along blood vessels, leading to displacement of astrocytic endfeet, degradation of tight junctions on endothelial cells and breakdown of the basement membrane surrounding blood vessels. In turn, serum components leak into the neural parenchyma.