Assessment of Blood-brain Barrier Permeability by Intravenous Infusion of FITC-labeled Albumin in a Mouse Model of Neurodegenerative Disease

J Vis Exp. 2017 Nov 8:(129):56389. doi: 10.3791/56389.

Abstract

Disruption of blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity is a common feature for different neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Although the interplay between perturbed BBB homeostasis and the pathogenesis of brain disorders needs further investigation, the development and validation of a reliable procedure to accurately detect BBB alterations may be crucial and represent a useful tool for potentially predicting disease progression and developing targeted therapeutic strategies. Here, we present an easy and efficient procedure for evaluating BBB leakage in a neurodegenerative condition like that occurring in a preclinical mouse model of Huntington disease, in which defects in the permeability of BBB are clearly detectable precociously in the disease. Specifically, the high molecular weight fluorescein isothiocyanate labelled (FITC)-albumin, which is able to cross the BBB only when the latter is impaired, is acutely infused into a mouse jugular vein and its distribution in the vascular or parenchymal districts is then determined by fluorescence microscopy. Accumulation of green fluorescent-albumin in the brain parenchyma functions as an index of aberrant BBB permeability and, when quantitated by using Image J processing software, is reported as Green Fluorescence Intensity.

Publication types

  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Blood-Brain Barrier / metabolism*
  • Blood-Brain Barrier / pathology*
  • Brain / metabolism*
  • Brain / pathology*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate / analogs & derivatives*
  • Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate / pharmacokinetics
  • Infusions, Intravenous
  • Mice
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases / pathology
  • Optical Imaging / methods*
  • Permeability
  • Serum Albumin / pharmacokinetics*

Substances

  • FITC-albumin
  • Serum Albumin
  • Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate