A stable intraventricular milieu is crucial for maintaining normal neuronal function. The choroid plexus epithelium produces the cerebrospinal fluid and in doing so influences the chemical composition of the interstitial fluid of the brain. Here, we review the molecular pathways involved in transport of the electrolytes Na+, K+, Cl-, and HCO3(-)across the choroid plexus epithelium.

The choroid plexuses are small organs that protrude into each brain ventricle producing cerebrospinal fluid that constantly bathes the brain. These organs differentiate early in development just after neural closure at a stage when the brain is little vascularized. In recent years the plexus has been shown to have a much more active role in brain development than previously appreciated thereby ...

Choroid plexus epithelial cells are enriched in mRNA for proteins such as the iron carrier transferrin, which acts as a trophic factor in the brain. Choroid plexus epithelial cells also have a high density of 5-HT1C receptors linked to activation of the phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis second messenger system. The present studies show that the 5-HT1C/5-HT2 receptor agonist 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-io...

The choroid plexus and cerebral ventricles are critical structures for the production of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and play an important role in regulating ion and metal transport in the brain, however many aspects of its roles in normal physiology and disease states, such as psychiatric illness, remain unknown. The choroid plexus is difficult to examine in vivo, and in situ ex vivo, and as s...

Choroid plexus carcinoma is a malignant brain tumor predominantly occurring in young children. Only limited data are available regarding the underlying molecular genetic alterations. Therefore, molecular inversion probe single nucleotide polymorphism (MIP SNP) arrays were performed on a series of 26 neuropathologically well-characterized choroid plexus carcinomas. Recurrent copy number losses o...

The hydrolysis of the porcine 26-residue brain natriuretic peptide (BNP-26) and its counterpart human 28-residue atrial natriuretic peptide (alpha-hANP) by pig membrane preparations and purified membrane peptidases was studied. When the two peptides were incubated with choroid plexus membranes, the products being analysed by h.p.l.c., alpha-hANP was degraded twice as fast as BNP. The h.p.l.c. p...

We evaluated the effects of intracerebroventricular (icv) infusion of Na(+)-rich artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF), with or without the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blocker spironolactone, on epithelial Na(+) channel (ENaC) subunits and regulators, such as MR, serum/glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1, neural precursor cells expressed developmentally downregulated 4-like gene, 11beta-hydro...

PEPT2 expression has been established in brain and, in particular, mRNA transcripts and PEPT2 protein have been identified in choroid plexus. However, there is little evidence for the functional presence of this peptide transporter in choroid plexus tissue. In this study, we examined the in vitro uptake of a model dipeptide, glycylsarcosine (GlySar), with whole tissue rat choroid plexus in arti...

The prognostic significance of atypical histologic features in choroid plexus tumors remains uncertain. Therefore, a series of 164 choroid plexus tumors was evaluated for the presence of atypical histologic features, including mitotic activity, increased cellularity, nuclear pleomorphism, blurring of papillary growth pattern, and necrosis. The impact of histopathologic and clinical features on ...

The incidence of choroid plexus cysts represents approximately 1% of fetal anomalies. We describe a case in which fetal ultrasonography and fetal magnetic resonance scans were used to identify a large choroid cyst in a fetus without the use of a diagnostic amniocentesis to detect aneuploidy. After birth, the child underwent surgery. In conclusion, the nature of prenatal intracranial cysts shoul...