Pericytes and Neurovascular Function in the Healthy and Diseased Brain

Pericytes are multi-functional cells embedded within the walls of capillaries throughout the body, including the brain. Pericytes were first identified in the 1870s, but little attention was paid to them during the following century. More recently, numerous vascular functions of pericytes have been...

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Veröffentlicht in:Frontiers in cellular neuroscience Jg. 13; S. 282
Hauptverfasser: Brown, Lachlan S., Foster, Catherine G., Courtney, Jo-Maree, King, Natalie E., Howells, David W., Sutherland, Brad A.
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 28.06.2019
Frontiers Media S.A
Schlagworte:
Angiogenesis
Blood flow
Blood vessels
Blood-brain barrier
brain
Brain research
Capillaries
Cell cycle
Cerebral blood flow
Functional anatomy
Growth factors
Inflammation
Neurodegenerative diseases
neurological disease
Neuroscience
neurovascular
Pericytes
Proteins
Roles
Smooth muscle
Stem cells
Vascular diseases
blood brain barrier
cerebral blood flow
neurovascular
brain
neurological disease
pericytes
ISSN:1662-5102, 1662-5102
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Zusammenfassung:Pericytes are multi-functional cells embedded within the walls of capillaries throughout the body, including the brain. Pericytes were first identified in the 1870s, but little attention was paid to them during the following century. More recently, numerous vascular functions of pericytes have been identified including regulation of cerebral blood flow, maintenance of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and control of vascular development and angiogenesis. Pericytes can also facilitate neuroinflammatory processes and possess stem cell-like properties. Pericytes form part of the neurovascular unit (NVU), a collection of cells that control interactions between neurons and the cerebral vasculature to meet the energy demands of the brain. Pericyte structure, expression profile, and function in the brain differ depending on their location along the vascular bed. Until recently, it has been difficult to accurately define the sub-types of pericytes, or to specifically target pericytes with pharmaceutical agents, but emerging techniques both and will improve investigation of pericytes and allow for the identification of their possible roles in diseases. Pericyte dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a contributor to the progression of vascular diseases such as stroke and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. The therapeutic potential of pericytes to repair cerebral blood vessels and promote angiogenesis due to their ability to behave like stem cells has recently been brought to light. Here, we review the history of pericyte research, the present techniques used to study pericytes in the brain, and current research advancements to characterize and therapeutically target pericytes in the future.
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Reviewed by: Berislav Zlokovic, University of Southern California, United States; Abhay Sagare, University of Southern California, United States
This article was submitted to Non-Neuronal Cells, a section of the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
Edited by: Johanna Jackson, Eli Lilly, United Kingdom
Joint first authors
ISSN:1662-5102
1662-5102
DOI:10.3389/fncel.2019.00282