• Angel Gato, M Isabel Alonso, Cristina Martín, Estela Carnicero, José Antonio Moro, Aníbal De la Mano, José M F Fernández, Francisco Lamus, and Mary E Desmond.
• Ángel Gato Casado, Departamento de Anatomía y Radiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valladolid, C/ Ramón y Cajal 7, E-47005-Valladolid, Spain, gato@med.uva.es.
• Croat. Med. J. 2014 Aug 28; 55 (4): 299-305.

AbstractDue to the effort of several research teams across the world, today we have a solid base of knowledge on the liquid contained in the brain cavities, its composition, and biological roles. Although the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is among the most relevant parts of the central nervous system from the physiological point of view, it seems that it is not a permanent and stable entity because its composition and biological properties evolve across life. So, we can talk about different CSFs during the vertebrate life span. In this review, we focus on the CSF in an interesting period, early in vertebrate development before the formation of the choroid plexus. This specific entity is called "embryonic CSF." Based on the structure of the compartment, CSF composition, origin and circulation, and its interaction with neuroepithelial precursor cells (the target cells) we can conclude that embryonic CSF is different from the CSF in later developmental stages and from the adult CSF. This article presents arguments that support the singularity of the embryonic CSF, mainly focusing on its influence on neural precursor behavior during development and in adult life.

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