Understanding the blood-brain barrier using gene and protein expression profiling technologies.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) contributes to the brain homeostasis by regulating the passage of endogenous and exogenous compounds. This function is in part due to well-known proteins such as tight junction proteins, plasma membrane transporters and metabolic barrier proteins. Over the last decade, genomics and proteomics have emerged as supplementary tools for BBB research. The development of genomic and proteomic technologies has provided several means to extend the BBB knowledge and to investigate additional routes for the bypass of this barrier. These profiling technologies have been used on BBB models to decipher the physiological characteristics and, under stress conditions, to understand the molecular mechanisms of brain diseases. In this review, we will report and discuss the genomic and proteomic studies recently carried out to enhance the understanding of BBB features.