Tim Wallace
In the brain of a zebrafish, lymphatic “scavenger” cells (shown in red) wrap around blood vessels (shown in green). The scavenger cells, or mural lymphatic endothelial cells, discovered by scientists at the University of Queensland, are believed to protect the brain from cellular waste, such as excess fats, leaking from the bloodstream.
“It is rare to discover a cell type in the brain that we didn’t know about previously, and particularly a cell type that we didn’t expect to be there,” says lead researcher Ben Hogan, of UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
He and his colleagues hope the discovery will improve understanding of how the human brain functions, since zebrafish share many of the same cell types and organs as humans. The tropical freshwater fish make ideal subjects for such exploration, because the brains of the naturally transparent creatures can be observed directly using advanced light microscopes.
Hogan says there is reason to be confident that equivalent scavenger cells surround and protect the human brain. Learning how to control them, such as through pharmaceuticals, could lead to breakthroughs in preventing or treating neurological diseases such as stroke and dementia.
