Cerebrospinal fluid is functionally continuous with the extracellular fluid bathing central neurons.
The composition of the extracellular fluid of the brain can directly influence the individual and integrative neuron function. Thus choroid plexus plays an important role in regulation of the brain extracellular fluid composition and in turn central nercous function. Our research objective is to characterize modulation of organic ion transport across the CSF-blood barrier induced by physical and chemical stresses or perturbations of the internal milieu. During the summer months, we investigate xenobiotic transport across the CSF-blood barrier of a marine elasmobranch, the spiny dogfish shark, at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory near Bar Harbor, Maine. Using this experimental model, we are characterizing the fundamental energetics of xenobiotic transporters and the modulatory effects of heavy metals.