In many animals, including ants, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) ensures normal brain function by controlling the movement of various substances in and out of the brain. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Cell on September 7 have made the unexpected discovery that the BBB in carpenter ants plays an active role in controlling behavior that's essential to the function of entire ant colonies. The key is production in the BBB of a particular hormone-degrading enzyme. "In these ants, the BBB produces a special version of the enzyme Juvenile hormone esterase (Jhe), which degrades Juvenile Hormone (JH3)," says Karl Glastad ( @Laevorotatory ), the co-lead author along with Linyang Ju ( @LinyangJ ), both in the lab of senior author Shelley Berger ( @berger_lab ) in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

https://www.miragenews.com/blood-brain-barrier-controls-ant-behavior-via-1079941/

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