Advances in neuro-imaging and molecular biology have only recently enabled scientists to study the living brain at level of detail not previously achievable, unlocking many of its mysteries.

This discovery will help researchers more precisely understand the mechanics of the glymphatic system, which was the subject of a recent $13 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s BRAIN Initiative to the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester.

These and similar observations suggest that diseases as diverse as multiple sclerosis, central nervous system infections, and Alzheimer’s might be triggered or worsened by abnormalities in SLYM function.

They also suggest that the delivery of drugs and gene therapeutics to the brain may be impacted by SLYM function, which will need to be considered as new generations of biologic therapies are being developed.

Reference: “A mesothelium divides the subarachnoid space into functional compartments” by Kjeld Møllgård, Felix R. M. Beinlich, Peter Kusk, Leo M. Miyakoshi, Christine Delle, Virginia Plá, Natalie L. Hauglund, Tina Esmail, Martin K. Rasmussen, Ryszard S. Gomolka, Yuki Mori and Maiken Nedergaard, 5 January 2023, Science.

Additional co-authors include Felix Beinlich, Peter Kusk, Leo Miyakoshi, Christine Delle, Virginia Pla, Natalie Hauglund, Tina Esmail, Martin Rasmussen, Ryszard Gomolka, and Yuki Mori with Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Copenhagen.