on December 8, 2008
Published online before print December 8, 2008, doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.533117
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Submitted on July 30, 2008
From the Departments of Neurology and Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mfisher{at}uci.edu.
Abstract—Brain pericytes are intimately associated with capillary endothelial cells, separated only by basement membrane. Pericyte research has been hampered by absence of pericyte-specific immunochemical markers. The vast array of pericyte functions include contractility, immunologic, migratory, and angiogenic. Pericytes have stem cell potential, contribute to the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, and have a regulatory role for hemostasis in the brain. Improvement in pericyte identification is likely to lead to marked increase in appreciation of the role of pericytes in the neurovascular unit.
Accepted on July 30, 2008
Pericyte Signaling in the Neurovascular Unit
Mark Fisher MD*
Key words: pericyte • endothelium • astrocyte • neurovascular