Pericytes in capillaries are contractile in vivo, but arterioles mediate functional hyperemia in the mouse brain
Open accessAbstract
Modern functional imaging techniques of the brain measure local hemodynamic responses evoked by neuronal activity. Capillary pericytes recently were suggested to mediate neurovascular coupling in brain slices, but their role in vivo remains unexplored. We used two-photon microscopy to study in real time pericytes and the dynamic changes of capillary diameter and blood flow in the cortex of anesthetized mice, as well as in brain slices. The thromboxane A 2 analog, 9,11-dideoxy-9α,11α-methanoepoxy Prostaglandin F2α (U46619), induced constrictions in the vicinity of pericytes in a fraction of capillaries, whereas others dilated. The changes in vessel diameter resulted in changes in capillary red blood cell (RBC) flow. In contrast, during brief epochs of seizure activity elicited by local administration of the GABA A receptor antagonist, bicuculline, capillary RBC flow increased without pericyte-induced capillary diameter changes. Precapillary arterioles were the smallest vessels to dilate, together with penetrating and pial arterioles. Our results provide in vivo evidence that pericytes can modulate capillary blood flow in the brain, which may be important under pathological conditions. However, our data suggest that precapillary and penetrating arterioles, rather than pericytes in capillaries, are responsible for the blood flow increase induced by neural activity.
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Pericytes play an active role in regulating cerebral blood flow.
“These findings coupled by recent physiological experiments on pericyte contractility support that pericytes play an active role in regulating CBF (65, 173, 228, 318, 319, 470).”
From Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back (2019) · cites this paper as [173]
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- Authors
- Fernández-Klett, F., Offenhauser, N., Dirnagl, U., Priller, J., & Lindauer, U.
- Affiliations
- Department of Neuropsychiatry and Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, D-10117 Berlin, Germany;
- Center for Stroke Research Berlin (DE)
- NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence (DE)
- Berlin-Brandenburger Centrum für Regenerative Therapien (DE)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2010-12-06
- Volume
- 107
- Issue
- 51
- Pages
- 22290-22295
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3009761
- OpenAlex
- W2042698075
- Cited by
- 399
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 31
- FWCI
- 13.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Barrier Structure and Function Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
- Keywords
- pericytes, capillary blood flow, functional hyperemia, neurovascular coupling, precapillary arterioles, arteriolar dilation, U46619, thromboxane A2, bicuculline, seizures, cerebral cortex, red blood cell flow, capillary diameter
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Arterioles, Bicuculline, Blood Flow Velocity, Brain, Capillaries, Cerebrovascular Disorders, Female, Hyperemia, Male, Mice, Transgenic, Receptors, GABA-A, Thromboxane A2, Vasoconstrictor Agents, Vasodilation, 15-Hydroxy-11 alpha,9 alpha-(epoxymethano)prosta-5,13-dienoic Acid, Pericytes, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton, Mice, GABA-A Receptor Antagonists
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