The Proteome of Mouse Brain Microvessel Membranes and Basal Lamina

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a multicellular vascular structure separating blood from the brain parenchyma that is composed of endothelial cells with tight intercellular junctions, surrounded by a basal lamina, astrocytes, and pericytes. Previous studies have generated detailed databases of the microvessel transcriptome; however, less information is available on the BBB at the protein level. In this study, we specifically focused on characterization of the membrane fraction of cells within the BBB to generate a more complete understanding of membrane transporters, tight junction proteins, and associated extracellular matrix proteins that are functional hallmarks of the BBB. We used Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology to identify a total of 1,143 proteins in mouse brain microvessels, of which 53% were determined to be membrane associated. Analyses of specific classes of BBB-associated proteins in the context of recent transcriptome reports provide a unique database to assess the relative contribution of genes at the level of both RNA and protein in the maintenance of normal BBB integrity.