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      A paravascular pathway facilitates CSF flow through the brain parenchyma and the clearance of interstitial solutes, including amyloid β.

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          Abstract

          Because it lacks a lymphatic circulation, the brain must clear extracellular proteins by an alternative mechanism. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) functions as a sink for brain extracellular solutes, but it is not clear how solutes from the brain interstitium move from the parenchyma to the CSF. We demonstrate that a substantial portion of subarachnoid CSF cycles through the brain interstitial space. On the basis of in vivo two-photon imaging of small fluorescent tracers, we showed that CSF enters the parenchyma along paravascular spaces that surround penetrating arteries and that brain interstitial fluid is cleared along paravenous drainage pathways. Animals lacking the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in astrocytes exhibit slowed CSF influx through this system and a ~70% reduction in interstitial solute clearance, suggesting that the bulk fluid flow between these anatomical influx and efflux routes is supported by astrocytic water transport. Fluorescent-tagged amyloid β, a peptide thought to be pathogenic in Alzheimer's disease, was transported along this route, and deletion of the Aqp4 gene suppressed the clearance of soluble amyloid β, suggesting that this pathway may remove amyloid β from the central nervous system. Clearance through paravenous flow may also regulate extracellular levels of proteins involved with neurodegenerative conditions, its impairment perhaps contributing to the mis-accumulation of soluble proteins.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Sci Transl Med
          Science translational medicine
          American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
          1946-6242
          1946-6234
          Aug 15 2012
          : 4
          : 147
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Center for Translational Neuromedicine, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. jeffrey_iliff@urmc.rochester.edu
          Article
          4/147/147ra111 NIHMS432693
          10.1126/scitranslmed.3003748
          3551275
          22896675
          8daf8091-abf0-411b-9570-a85213c12ba7
          History

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