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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Isolation of Cerebral Capillaries from Fresh Human Brain Tissue
Published on: September 12, 2018
Organic anion-transporting polypeptides at the blood-brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barriers
Daniel E Westholm1, Jon N Rumbley, David R Salo
1College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota 55812, USA.
Abstract:
Organic anion-transporting polypeptides (Oatps) are solute carrier family members that exhibit marked evolutionary conservation. Mammalian Oatps exhibit wide tissue expression with an emphasis on expression in barrier cells. In the brain, Oatps are expressed in the blood-brain barrier endothelial cells and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier epithelial cells. This expression profile serves to illustrate a central role for Oatps in transporting endo- and xenobiotics across brain barrier cells. This chapter will detail the expression patterns and substrate specificities of Oatps expressed in the brain, and will place special emphases on the role of Oatps in prostaglandin synthesis and in the transport of conjugated endobiotics.
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