Choroid Plexus Epithelial Cell

A glia cell type of the human nervous system.

Blood-CSF barrier epithelial cell that secretes cerebrospinal fluid and regulates the chemical environment of the ventricles.

Function

Secretion of cerebrospinal fluid and formation of the blood-CSF barrier through tight epithelial transport regulation (polarized Na+/K+-ATPase, NKCC1, HCO3- transporters, AQP1; claudin tight junctions restrict paracellular passage).

Morphology

Cuboidal epithelium; dense apical microvilli/brush border; high mitochondrial density; tight junctions

Specification

  • Receptors: Serotonin; Vasopressin
  • Location: Choroid plexus (epithelial monolayer in all four ventricles)
  • Projections: Apical microvilli (brush border) facing the ventricular lumen; non-motile 9+0 cilia
  • Firing: Non-spiking
  • Markers: TTR (transthyretin); AQP1; KRT8/KRT18; OTX2; CLDN1/CLDN2; SLC4A5 (NBCe2)
  • Developmental origin: Neural tube / ependymal lineage (dorsal neuroepithelium; 4th-ventricle plexus ~wk 9 in humans)
  • Disease: Hydrocephalus (overproduction in rare choroid plexus papilloma/carcinoma; more often impaired CSF reabsorption); age-related epithelial atrophy reducing CSF production/clearance
  • Cell Ontology: CL:0000706

References

  1. Javed K, Reddy V, & Lui F (2023). Neuroanatomy, Choroid Plexus.. StatPearls [Internet] PMID 30844183
  2. MacAulay N, Keep RF, & Zeuthen T (2022). Cerebrospinal fluid production by the choroid plexus: a century of barrier research revisited.. Fluids and barriers of the CNS 19 PMID 35317823
  3. Lun MP, Monuki ES, & Lehtinen MK (2015). Development and functions of the choroid plexus-cerebrospinal fluid system.. Nature reviews. Neuroscience 16 PMID 26174708

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