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  • KSBNS 2024

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Original Article

Exp Neurobiol 2023; 32(6): 441-452

Published online December 31, 2023

https://doi.org/10.5607/en23032

© The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM)-like Vessel Lesion in the Aged ANKS1A-deficient Brain

Jiyeon Lee, Haeryung Lee, Miram Shin and Soochul Park*

Department of Biological Sciences, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul 04310, Korea

Correspondence to: *To whom correspondence should be addressed.
TEL: 82-2-710-9330, FAX: 82-2-710-9331
e-mail: scpark@sookmyung.ac.kr
These authors contributed equally to this article.

Received: September 29, 2023; Revised: December 11, 2023; Accepted: December 15, 2023

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

In this study, we show that ANKS1A is specifically expressed in the brain endothelial cells of adult mice. ANKS1A deficiency in adult mice does not affect the differentiation, growth, or patterning of the cerebrovascular system; however, its absence significantly impacts the cerebrovascular system of the aged brain. In aged ANKS1A knock-out (KO) brains, vessel lesions exhibiting cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are observed. In addition, CCM-like lesions show localized peripheral blood leakage into the brain. The CCM-like lesions reveal immune cells infiltrating the parenchyma. The CCM-like lesions also contain significantly fewer astrocyte endfeets and tight junctions, indicating that the integrity of the BBB has been partially compromised. CCM-like lesions display increased fibronectin expression in blood vessels, which is also confirmed in cultured endothelial cells deficient for ANKS1A. Therefore, we hypothesize that ANKS1A may play a role in maintaining or stabilizing healthy blood vessels in the brain during aging.

Graphical Abstract


Keywords: ANKS1A, Cerebral cavernous malformation, Blood-brain barrier, Neurodegenerative disease