Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is the leading cause of pediatric hydrocephalus in North America and a devastating complication of preterm birth. Work led by @csadegh & @Huixin_BJ in @NeuroCellPress suggests choroid plexus gene therapy may help. 1/6

In mouse models of pediatric IVH, blood in the ventricles leads to ↑ choroid plexus calcium activity, ↑ cerebrospinal fluid potassium ([K+]), and ↑ NKCC1 expression/activation. 2/6

Increased CSF [K+] enabled NKCC1-mediated CSF transport into the ChP, equipping the ChP to transiently aid CSF clearance. ChP NKCC1 expression is limited during early development (Xu & Fame 2021), creating a bottleneck for this self-rescuing process. 3/6

Our study supports that the ChP acts as an immediate responder to intraventricular blood by boosting CSF clearance capacity in the acute phase of IVH, & that this NKCC1-dependent mechanism can be targeted by AAV therapy in pediatric and adult models. 5/6

Finally, thank you to wonderful collaborators @MGHNeurosurg , @BostonChildrens neurosurgery, @steen_lab , @andermann_mark , and @cimoore444 without whom this work would not have been possible. 6/6