An increasing level of prostaglandin (PG) E 2 is involved in the progression of neuroinflammation induced by ischemia and bacterial infection. Although an imbalance in the rates of production and clearance of PGE 2 under these pathological conditions appears to affect the concentration of PGE 2 in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the regulatory system remains incompletely understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cellular system of PGE 2 production via microsomal PGE synthetase-1 (mPGES-1), the inducible PGE 2 -generating enzyme, and PGE 2 elimination from the CSF via the blood-CSF barrier (BCSFB). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that mPGES-1 was expressed in the soma and perivascular sheets of astrocytes, pia mater, and brain blood vessel endothelial cells, suggesting that these cells are local production sites of PGE 2 in the CSF. The in vivo PGE 2 elimination clearance from the CSF was eightfold greater than that of D-mannitol, which is considered to reflect CSF bulk flow. This process was inhibited by the simultaneous injection of unlabeled PGE 2 and b-lactam antibiotics, such as benzylpenicillin, cefazolin, and ceftriaxone, which are substrates and/or inhibitors of organic anion transporter 3 (OAT3). The characteristics of PGE 2 uptake by the isolated choroid plexus were at least partially consistent with those of OAT3. OAT3 was able to mediate PGE 2 transport with a Michaelis-Menten constant of 4.24 lM. These findings indicate that a system regulating the PGE 2 level in the CSF involves OAT3-mediated PGE 2 uptake by choroid plexus epithelial cells, acting as a cerebral clearance pathway via the BCSFB of locally produced PGE 2 . Keywords: blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, clearance, inflammation, mPGES-1, prostaglandin E 2 , prostaglandin synthase. J. Neurochem. (2012) 123, 750-760. Prostaglandin (PG) E 2 is the crucial mediator, which propagates neuroinflammation induced by ischemia and bacterial infection. The PGE 2 level is significantly increased in the Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the patients suffering from stroke (0.57-8.5 nM;Carasso et al. 1977) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated rats (~3.4 nM; Gao et al. 2009), although the PGE 2 concentration in normal CSF is below the detection limit in humans (Romero et al. 1984) and 0.15 nM in rats (Gao et al. 2009). As a positive correlation has been found between the PGE 2 level in the CSF and the severity and clinical outcome of the stroke (Carasso et al. 1977), the CSF concentration of PGE 2 appears to be a key determinant of the progression of neuroinflammation.Received June 12, 2012; revised manuscript received August 29, 2012; accepted September 08, 2012.Address correspondence and reprint requests to Ken-ichi Hosoya, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan. E-mail: hosoyak@pha.u-toyama.ac.jp Abbreviations used: BBB, blood-brain barrier; BCSFB, bloodcerebrospinal fluid barrier; CHO, Chinese hamster ovary; cPGES, cytosolic prostaglandin E synthetase; CSF, cer...

Although the level of prostaglandin (PG) D 2 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) affects the action of D-type prostanoid receptors that promote physiological sleep, the regulatory system of PGD 2 clearance from the CSF is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate PGD 2 elimination from the CSF via the blood-CSF barrier (BCSFB). The in vivo PGD 2 elimination clearance from the CSF was 16-fold greater than that of inulin, which is considered to reflect CSF bulk flow. This process was inhibited by the simultaneous injection of unlabeled PGD 2 . The characteristics of PGD 2 uptake by isolated choroid plexus were, at least partially, consistent with those of PG transporter (PGT) and organic anion transporter 3 (OAT3). Studies using an oocyte expression system showed that PGT and OAT3 were able to mediate PGD 2 transport with a Michaelis-Menten constant of 1.07 and 7.32 M, respectively. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that PGT was localized on the brush-border membrane of the choroid plexus epithelial cells. These findings indicate that the system regulating the PGD 2 level in the CSF involves PGT-and OAT3-mediated PGD 2 uptake by the choroid plexus epithelial cells, acting as a pathway for PGD 2 clearance from the CSF via the BCSFB.

Prostaglandin (PG) E2 is involved in neuroinflammation and neurotoxicity, and the cerebral PGE2 concentration is increased in neurodegenerative diseases. Because the intracerebral concentration of L-glutamate (L-Glu) is reported to be also elevated in neurodegenerative diseases, it has been proposed that L-Glu affects PGE2 dynamics in the brain, and thus exacerbates neural excitotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of intracerebral L-Glu on PGE2 elimination across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in rats by using the intracerebral microinjection technique. [(3)H]PGE2 injected into the cerebral cortex was eliminated from the brain in rats, and the apparent brain-to-blood [(3)H]PGE2 efflux clearance was found to be 60.1 µL/(min·g brain). Intracerebral pre-administration of 50 mM L-Glu significantly inhibited [(3)H]PGE2 elimination across the BBB and this L-Glu-induced inhibition was abolished by co-administration of an intracellular Ca(2+) chelator. The intracellular Ca(2+) concentration is reported to be increased via N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-type L-Glu receptors (NMDAR) and [(3)H]PGE2 elimination was attenuated by intracerebral pre-administration of a mixture of NMDA and D-serine. Moreover, the co-administration of antagonists of NMDAR with L-Glu abolished the attenuation of PGE2 elimination induced by intracerebral L-Glu administration. These results suggest that L-Glu attenuates BBB-mediated PGE2 elimination via NMDAR-mediated processes.