Newfound skull tunnels may speed immune cells’ trek to brain injuries
These tiny shortcuts showed up in the bone of mice and humans
Skulls seem solid, but the thick bones are actually riddled with tiny tunnels.
Microscopic channels cut through the skull bones of people and mice, scientists found. In mice, inflammatory immune cells use these previously hidden channels to travel from the bone marrow of the skull to the brain, the team reports August 27 in Nature Neuroscience. It’s not yet known whether immune cells travel these paths through people’s skulls. If so, these tunnels represent a newfound way for immune cells to reach — and possibly inflame — the brain.