The delivery of many potentially therapeutic and diagnostic compounds to specific areas of the brain is restricted by brain barriers, of which the most well known are the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier. Recent studies have shown numerous additional roles of these barriers, including an involvement in neurodevelopment, in the control of cerebral blood flow, and - when barrier integrity is impaired - in the pathology of many common CNS disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and stroke. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
