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New Frontiers in the Brain: Unexpected Roles of the Choroid Plexus-Cerebrospinal Fluid System in Health and Disease

Organisers: Fiona Doetsch and Maria K. Lehtinen

Date: 14 - 17 July 2019

Location: Wiston House, UK

Recent years have witnessed transformative breakthroughs in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biology in the vertebrate nervous system. CSF fills the brain’s ventricles, providing essential homeostatic support. The choroid plexus, a highly vascularized sheet of epithelial cells located in each ventricle in the brain, is the principal source of CSF, forms the blood-CSF barrier and is a gateway for immune cell entry into the brain. Diverse cell types contact the CSF, both sensing signals transported by the CSF and contributing to its flow through the ventricular system. Glymphatics and meninges are also novel active players in this system. Importantly, recent advances have revealed that the CSF system is not just a passive sink, but a rich milieu of active signalling molecules that drives diverse biological processes during development and in the adult brain, from stem cell regulation to cognition and disease. Intriguingly, the choroid plexus is emerging as a sensor of both local and systemic changes, responding by dynamically modulating its secretome, thereby impacting many aspects of brain function and disease. This workshop will bring together scientists working on all aspects of choroid plexus/CSF biology to discuss these exciting questions and illuminate novel facets of choroid plexus/CSF function and its impact on the nervous system.

1. Choroid plexus/CSF signaling niche: development, stem cells and plasticity
2. Barrier and neuroimmune function
3. Propelling and sensing the CSF: ependyma and cilia
4. Novel signaling sources: extra-axial CSF, interstitial fluid, meninges
5. Choroid plexus/CSF and disease

Our workshop combines new and established investigators to capture the newfound excitement surrounding the choroid plexus-CSF system. This workshop is especially timely given the recent rapid advances in this field and will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scientists for the purpose of enabling the exchange of scientific ideas, fostering collaboration, and opening new avenues in choroid plexus-CSF biology.

 

About Wiston House

Wiston House

The Workshops will be held at the beautiful Wiston House, which is a 16th century Grade I listed building located at the foot of the South Downs in West Sussex. The house is surrounded by over 6,000 acres of parkland with magnificent views from the mile-long drive.

Wiston House is the home of Wilton Park, one of the world’s leading centres for the discussion of key international policy issues. Wilton Park was created in 1946 to help re-establish peace and democracy in Europe as part of an initiative inspired by Winston Churchill. Wiston House has an amazing history and appears in the Domesday Book, the register of English possessions made by William the Conqueror in 1086, 20 years after he won the Battle of Hastings.

Wiston House is 32 miles from Gatwick Airport and 60 miles from Heathrow Airport. The nearest train station is Shoreham-by-Sea, which is a 20 minute taxi ride from Wiston House and takes 1 hour 10 minutes from London Victoria.

Wiston House
Steyning Road
Steyning
West Sussex
BN44 3DZ
Tel: +44 (0) 1903 815020
www.wistonhouse.co.uk

About our Workshops

The Company of Biologists is widely known for its excellence in scientific publishing and it now runs a successful high level series of Workshops. The Workshops provide leading experts and early career scientists from a diverse range of scientific backgrounds with a stimulating environment for the cross fertilization of interdisciplinary ideas. The programmes are carefully developed and are intended to champion the novel techniques and innovations that will underpin important scientific advances.

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