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Updated: May 23, 2026

Isolation of Cerebral Capillaries from Fresh Human Brain Tissue
Published on: September 12, 2018
ABC transporter function and regulation at the blood-spinal cord barrier
Christopher R Campos1, Christian Schröter, Xueqian Wang
1Laboratory of Toxicology and Pharmacology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA.
Abstract:
We present here an initial characterization of ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter function and regulation at the blood-spinal cord barrier. We isolated capillaries from rat spinal cords and studied transport function using a confocal microscopy-based assay and protein expression using western blots. These capillaries exhibited transport function and protein expression of P-glycoprotein (Abcb1), multidrug resistance protein 2 (Mrp2, Abcc2), and breast cancer-related protein (Bcrp, Abcg2). Exposing isolated capillaries to dioxin (activates aryl hydrocarbon receptor) increased transport mediated by all three transporters. Brain and spinal cord capillaries from dioxin-dosed rats exhibited increased P-glycoprotein-mediated transport and increased protein expression for all three ABC transporters. These findings indicate similar ABC transporter expression, function, and regulation at the blood-spinal cord and blood-brain barriers.
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