Formation and function of the meninges arachnoid barrier around the developing brain

Barriers at the level of the brain endothelium, choroid plexus, and meninges strictly regulate movement of molecules and cells into and out of the central nervous system (CNS). In contrast to the blood-brain barrier and choroid plexus epithelial barrier, developmental timing and function of the meningeal arachnoid barrier, a layer of epithelial-like cells connected by tight and adherens junctions, is largely unknown. To begin to address this, we mined our E14.5 mouse single cell transcriptomic (scRNA-seq) meningeal fibroblast data set and identified the repression of Wnt-{beta}-catenin signaling as a key mechanism underlying the specification of epithelial-like arachnoid barrier cells from Collagen 1+ and Crabp2+ mesenchymal meningeal precursors. We show that elevating Wnt-{beta}-catenin signaling in prenatal meningeal mesenchymal cells prevented the development of arachnoid barrier cells. In the absence of dorsal arachnoid barrier cells, the prenatal meninges and brain are penetrable to biocytin-TMR and Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS), the leading pathogen known to drive life-threatening neonatal meningitis. We show that a layer of Claudin 11 (tight junction) and E-cadherin (adherens junction) expressing arachnoid barrier cells appear around the mouse brain from E13-E15 and the emergence of a functional barrier by E17 coincides with junctional localization of Claudin 11. Postnatal growth of the arachnoid barrier is marked initially by proliferation and later re-organization of junctional domains. This work provides fundamental knowledge on development and prenatal function of a meningeal arachnoid barrier, and novel tools for future studies on regional functions of this CNS barrier in the meninges.