An essential role of a non-essential amino acid: Brain development critically depends on supply of serine through the blood-brain barrier
Inna Radzishevsky, Maali Odeh, Oded Bodner, Maxim Litvak, Kayoko Esaki, Takeo Yoshikawa, Wen-hong Li, Bella Agranovich, Herman Wolosker · FENS Forum 2024
Brain L-serine is critical for neurodevelopment and is thought to be synthesized solely from glucose. In contrast, we found that the influx of L-serine across the blood–brain barrier (BBB) is essential for brain development. We identified the endothelial Slc38a5, previously thought to be a glutamine transporter, as an L-serine transporter expressed at the BBB in early postnatal life. Young Slc38a5 knockout (KO) mice exhibit developmental alterations and a decrease in brain L-serine and D-serine, without changes in serum or liver amino acids. Slc38a5-KO brains exhibit accumulation of neurotoxic
ePoster · Neuroscience