Inspiring Scientific Curiosity and Discovery

Making and Breaking CNS Barriers: Meninges Arachnoid Barrier in Development and Disease

Speaker: Dr. Julie Siegenthaler, Associate Professor

The Siegenthaler laboratory studies the interplay between the central nervous system (CNS) and its vital support structures, the meninges and the brain vasculature. The meninges surround the brain and spinal cord providing a protective covering. However, the meninges are also an important source of developmental cues that regulate neuronal migration, cell positioning and neurogenesis. CNS disease and injury are frequently accompanied by breakdown of the meninges and vascular instability, and recently the Siegenthaler laboratory generated a single cell transcriptome atlas of the embryonic mouse meninges. This together with ongoing work has opened the door to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying vascular and meningeal barrier instability in disease, specifically ischemic stroke, viral encephalitis and bacterial meningitis.