Glial Dysfunction and Blood-Brain Barrier Impairment in the Developing Brain

Establishment of blood-brain barrier (BBB) is one of the key processes in the developing brain. It is tightly coupled to brain plasticity resulting in personal brain organization and individual trajectory of mental development, maturation, and aging. Alterations or untimely occurrence of developmental barriergenesis may be induced by various factors acting pre- or postnatally: suppression of embryonic angio- and neurogenesis, perinatal brain injury, neuroinflammation, neonatal stress, systemic inflammation. Detailed mechanisms of such alterations remain to be evaluated, however, deciphering molecular basis of BBB impairment in the developing brain may give us new opportunities to prevent and to treat cognitive dysfunction, aberrant behavior, and other forms of neurological deficits. The concept of brain angiogenesis and barriergenesis has been revised in recent years, and there is an accumulating evidence that development and maturation of BBB is provided by the complex influence of non-endothelial cells in the close vicinity to the barrier. In this review will focus on metabolism-related pro- and antiangiogenic activities of glial cells affecting BBB development at very early stages of ontogenesis.