Interaction between microglia and endothelial cell facilitates inflammatory BBB disruption in bacterial meningitis

Bacterial meningitis, a devastating disease occurring worldwide, remains a major cause of high mortality and morbidity, which can trigger BBB disruption and intense intracerebral inflammatory responses.

Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we show that during neonatal meningitis Escherichia coli (NMEC) challenges, brain endothelial cells undergo pyroptosis and trigger the pyroptotic cascade through intercellular interactions, leading to inflammatory disruption of BBB and strong immune response within the brain. Analyses of the scRNA-seq dataset demonstrate that brian endothelial cells and microglia display the most sensitive to bacterial responses, and the crosstalk between brain vascular cells and immune cells remodels the central nervous system immune microenvironment.