Metabolomics of Mouse Embryonic CSF Following Maternal Immune Activation.

The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) provides a protective fluid cushion for the brain (Fame & Lehtinen, 2020; Lacey et al , 2023)and delivers neuroactive proteins, peptides, and small molecules that are critical for normal brain development (Saunders et al , 2023; Gelb & Lehtinen, 2023). In the case of the developing cerebral cortex, whose neural progenitor cells line the brain's ventricles and extend primary cilia into the CSF, age-appropriate cocktails of CSF growth factors help ensure that progenitors remain healthy, acquire the correct identity, and proliferate in a developmentally appropriate manner(Chau et al , 2018; Lehtinen et al , 2011; Kim et al , 2010). Conversely, the CSF can be used as a readout of different stages of brain development including metabolic state (Chau et al , 2018; Fame et al , 2019). Indeed, CSF is commonly sampled for biomarkers of infections and neurologic diseases.