title: In vivo imaging of the neurovascular unit in CNS disease.
abstract: The neurovascular unit-comprised of glia, pericytes, neurons and cerebrovasculature-is a dynamic interface that ensures physiological central nervous system (CNS) functioning. In disease dynamic remodeling of the neurovascular interface triggers a cascade of responses that determine the extent of CNS degeneration and repair. The dynamics of these processes can be adequately captured by imaging in vivo, which allows the study of cellular responses to environmental stimuli and cell-cell interactions in the living brain in real time. This perspective focuses on intravital imaging studies of the neurovascular unit in stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer disease (AD) models and discusses their potential for identifying novel therapeutic targets.
authors.affiliation: Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease; University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA USA.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Merlini
authors.affiliation: Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease; University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA USA.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Davalos
authors.affiliation: Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease; University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA USA ; Department of Neurology; University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA USA.
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akassoglou
keywords: blood-brain barrier; dendritic spines; microglia; neurodegeneration; neuroinflammation