-Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is a 34-kDa glycoprotein that is important in lipoprotein metabolism both peripherally and centrally. Because it is primarily produced in the liver, apoE observed in the brain or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could have originated in the periphery; i.e., circulating apoE may cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and/or enter CSF and be taken up by brain cells. To determine whether this occurs, a secondgeneration adenovirus encoding human apoE3 was administered intravenously (iv) to C57BL/6J mice, and the detection of human apoE3 in the CSF was used as a surrogate measure of central availability of this protein utilizing an improved method for sampling CSF from mice. This improved technique collects mouse CSF samples with a 92% success rate and consistently yields relatively large volumes of CSF with a very low rate of blood contamination, as determined by molecular assessment of apolipoprotein B, a plasma-derived protein that is absent in the central nervous system. Through this improved method, we demonstrated that in mice receiving the administered apoE3 adenovirus, human apoE3 was expressed at high levels in the liver, leading to high levels of human apoE3 in mouse plasma. In contrast, human apoE3 levels in the CSF, as assessed by a sensitive ELISA, were essentially undetectable in human apoE3 adenovirustreated mice, and comparable to levels in LacZ adenovirus-treated control mice. These data indicate that apoE in the CSF cannot be derived from the plasma pool and, therefore, must be synthesized locally in the brain.cerebrospinal fluid collection; cisternum magnum; adenovirus; apolipoprotein E APOLIPOPROTEIN E (APOE) IS a 299-amino acid protein with a 34-kDa molecular weight (33). Although it is synthesized in several areas of the body, the liver accounts for most circulating apoE (19). ApoE plays a key role in lipid transport and lipoprotein metabolism (18). It mediates the uptake and degradation of chylomicron and very low-density lipoprotein remnants by acting as a ligand for the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor and the LDL receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) (1, 18). Because apoE is involved directly in the uptake and distribution of plasma lipids, it is not surprising that it has been implicated in cardiovascular disease, and apoE deficiency is associated with high serum cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels and leads to premature artherosclerosis (23).ApoE is also present in the brain. Central apoE is the most abundant component of HDL-like lipoproteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (22), and it has a pivotal role in brain lipid transport and the maintenance of cell membranes, myelin, and neural networks under normal conditions (3, 11). Recently, we demonstrated that central apoE is important in the control of food intake and body weight (27,28), and these effects might be mediated by the LRP1 receptor (16). Because apoE is present in both blood and CSF, any apoE found in the brain could have originated in the periphery; i.e., circulating apoE may cross the blood-brain barrier...