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pericyte; Rouget cell; mural cell; perithelial cell; adventitial cell

One of slender connective tissue cells in close relationship to the outside of the capillary wall. Function: - contractile cells that wrap around endothelial cells lining capillaries & venules [1] - they communicate with endothelial cells by direct contact & paracrine signaling - in the brain, pericytes help sustain the blood-brain barrier - component of the neurovascular unit - pericytes regulate capillary blood flow, clearance & phagocytosis of cellular debris, & permeability of the blood-brain barrier - pericytes stabilize & monitor maturation of endothelial cells - pericytes are responsible for tight junction formation & vesicle trafficking among endothelial cells - soluble PDGFR-beta is a CSF biomarker of blood-brain-barrier associated capillary mural cell pericyte function [7] Structure: - pericytes & endothelial cells share a basement membrane where a variety of intercellular connections are made - pericyte project finger-like extensions that wrap around the capillary wall, allowing them to regulate capillary blood flow - pericytes can also form direct connections with neighboring cells via gap junctions Comparative biology: - pericyte degeneration disrupts white-matter microcirculation, resulting in accumulation of fibrin deposits from the blood, ischemia, loss of myelin, axons & oligodendrocytes, initiating leukoaraiosis [6]

Related

capillary

General

connective tissue cell

References

  1. Wikipedia: Pericyte https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericyte
  2. Attwell D, Mishra A, Hall CN, O'Farrell FM, Dalkara T. What is a pericyte? J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2016 Feb;36(2):451-5. Review. PMID: 26661200 Free PMC Article
  3. Hamilton NB, Attwell D, Hall CN. Pericyte-mediated regulation of capillary diameter: a component of neurovascular coupling in health and disease Front Neuroenergetics. 2010 May 21;2 PMID: 20725515 Free PMC Article
  4. O'Farrell FM, Attwell D. A role for pericytes in coronary no-reflow. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2014 Jul;11(7):427-32. Review. PMID: 24776704
  5. Hall CN, Reynell C, Gesslein B et al Capillary pericytes regulate cerebral blood flow in health and disease. Nature. 2014 Apr 3;508(7494):55-60. PMID: 24670647 Free PMC Article
  6. Montagne A, Nikolakopoulou AM, Zhao Z et al Pericyte degeneration causes white matter dysfunction in the mouse central nervous system. Nature Medicine Feb 5, 2018 PMID: 29400711 https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.4482
  7. Nation DA, Sweeney MD, Montagne A et al Blood-brain barrier breakdown is an early biomarker of human cognitive dysfunction. Nature Medicine 2019. Jan 14. PMID: 30643288 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-018-0297-y