Despite the importance of cholesterol metabolism in the central nervous system, only relatively few studies have dealt with the cerebral uptake and transport of lipids into the brain compartment. These functions are mediated by the endothelium of brain microvessels, which forms the anatomical basis of the blood-brain barrier. By a reverse transcriptase PCR study of messenger RNA expression we could show, in bovine brain microvessels, the presence of transcripts of native low-density lipoprotein receptor and of both type I and II scavenger receptors. Brain microvessels therefore appear to play an active role in the uptake of native and modified low-density lipoproteins.