Key points from article :
The researchers were able to spot a change in performance of blood-brain barrier with age.
The mechanisms at work in the blood-brain barrier change with age, affecting selectivity.
Team investigated how permeable the barrier is to many endogenous proteins floating in blood.
Tests in young and old mice show ~half as many plasma proteins crossed barrier in older brains.
This was linked with the down-regulation of genes related to uptake in older mice.
They concluded that receptor-mediated transport across the barrier decreases in older mice.
Possibility of reversing these changes in order to help keep the brain healthy, investigated.
The ALPL gene came up in their list as an inhibitor of TFRC.
Treating aged brain cells with an ALPL blocker increased the expression of TFRC.
Still far from fixing the problem but demonstrates potential of pharmacological intervention.
Researchers from Stanford, published in Nature.
