The blood-brain barrier is the best-characterized vascular 'firewall' in the body. In Science, Rescigno and colleagues identify a vascular barrier in the gut that is analogous to that in the brain and is present in both mice and humans. They identify a distinct gut vascular barrier (GVB) composed of closely interacting endothelial cells, glial cells and pericytes. This GVB prevents the translocation of large molecules from the gut lumen. However, oral infection of mice with Salmonella typhimurium disrupts the GVB and allows the translocation of much larger molecules, as well as dissemination of the bacterium itself. The ability of S. typhimurium to cross the GVB depends on its ability to impair Wnt signaling in the endothelium. Therefore, in addition to the epithelium, the GVB presents a second, independent barrier that regulates the translocation of luminal bacteria and their ligands, as well as innocuous food antigens.
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Fehervari, Z. A gut vascular barrier. Nat Immunol 17, 47 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.3357
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.3357
