Project R-16375

The gatekeeper of the brain: choroid plexus inflammasome activation as the initial trigger of immune cell influx (Research)

The choroid plexus (ChP) is essential for cerebrospinal fluid production and forms the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB), an interface increasingly implicated in neuroinflammatory disease. Growing evidence indicates that immune cells can access the central nervous system through multiple barrier sites, including the ChP, yet the early molecular events that permit and amplify immune entry remain poorly defined. This project will investigate how barrier-resident cells and infiltrating immune cells interact at the ChP during the earliest stages of neuroinflammation. By combining complementary experimental models and analyses across disease-relevant contexts, we will (i) define cellular and molecular changes at the BCSFB associated with immune cell recruitment and passage, (ii) identify pathways that sustain or exacerbate local inflammatory amplification, and (iii) determine which mechanisms are most actionable for early intervention. Ultimately, this work aims to advance a barrier-centric view of neuroinflammatory initiation and to support the development of strategies that prevent irreversible neurological damage by targeting the earliest steps of immune entry.

01 January 2026 - 31 December 2028