Skip to main content

Chenghua Gu studies interactions between the nervous system and vasculature. Specifically, Gu and her team examine the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), the ways in which endothelial cells (ECs) lining the walls of the brain’s blood vessels give rise to the restrictive nature of BBB properties and transmit peripheral immune signals to the brain, and how perivascular cells maintain the BBB properties of those ECs. In addition, the team explores aspects of neurovascular coupling – the process whereby neural activity increases local blood flow – including how neural signals are sensed and propagated, what restricts neurovascular coupling to a specific region, and the consequences of impaired neurovascular coupling for brain function.