What is a pericyte?

Pericytes, spatially isolated contractile cells on capillaries, have been reported to control cerebral blood flow physiologically, and to limit blood flow after ischaemia by constricting capillaries and then dying. Paradoxically, a recent paper dismisses the idea of pericytes controlling cerebral bl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 451 - 455
Main Authors Attwell, David, Mishra, Anusha, Hall, Catherine N, O’Farrell, Fergus M, Dalkara, Turgay
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.02.2016
Subjects
Animals
Capillaries - cytology
Capillaries - physiology
Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology
Humans
Pericytes - physiology
Pericytes - ultrastructure
Terminology as Topic
Pericyte
cerebral blood flow
blood–brain barrier
capillary
stroke
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Summary:Pericytes, spatially isolated contractile cells on capillaries, have been reported to control cerebral blood flow physiologically, and to limit blood flow after ischaemia by constricting capillaries and then dying. Paradoxically, a recent paper dismisses the idea of pericytes controlling cerebral blood flow, despite confirming earlier data showing a role for pericytes. We show that these discrepancies are apparent rather than real, and depend on the new paper defining pericytes differently from previous reports. An objective definition of different sub-classes of pericyte along the capillary bed is needed to develop novel therapeutic approaches for stroke and disorders caused by pericyte malfunction.
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ISSN:0271-678X
1559-7016
DOI:10.1177/0271678X15610340