title: Effect of surface charge of immortalized mouse cerebral endothelial cell monolayer on transport of charged solutes.
abstract: Charge carried by the surface glycocalyx layer (SGL) of the cerebral endothelium has been shown to significantly modulate the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to charged solutes in vivo. The cultured monolayer of bEnd3, an immortalized mouse cerebral endothelial cell line, is becoming a popular in vitro BBB model due to its easy growth and maintenance of many BBB characteristics over repeated passages. To test whether the SGL of bEnd3 monolayer carries similar charge as that in the intact BBB and quantify this charge, which can be characterized by the SGL thickness (L(f)) and charge density (C(mf)), we measured the solute permeability of bEnd3 monolayer to neutral solutes and to solutes with similar size but opposite charges: negatively charged alpha-lactalbumin (-11) and positively charged ribonuclease (+3). Combining the measured permeability data with a transport model across the cell monolayer, we predicted the L(f) and the C(mf) of bEnd3 monolayer, which is approximately 160 nm and approximately 25 mEq/L, respectively. We also investigated whether orosomucoid, a plasma glycoprotein modulating the charge of the intact BBB, alters the charge of bEnd3 monolayer. We found that 1 mg/mL orosomucoid would increase SGL charge density of bEnd3 monolayer to approximately 2-fold of its control value.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of the City University of New York, 138th Street at Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Guanglei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Eun Seok
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: Tao Lu
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.forename: Bingmei M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001693:Biological Transport, Active / Q000502:physiology; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003198:Computer Simulation; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D009961:Orosomucoid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D009961:Orosomucoid