Cited by 682Barrier Structure and Function StudiesAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 53 of the 53 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 37 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Amyloid β oligomers constrict human capillaries in Alzheimer's disease via signaling to pericytes

Open access

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Pericytes put the squeeze on cognition: Like a computer, the brain needs a reliable source of power, which is provided as oxygen and glucose in the blood. However, in many neurological disorders this energy supply is disrupted. Brain blood flow is controlled by adjustment of the diameters of the vessels supplying the blood. Nortley et al. found that, both in humans developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in a mouse model of AD, brain capillaries become squeezed by pericytes (see the Perspective by Liesz). By defining the underlying mechanism, they suggest potential targets for therapy in early AD. Science , this issue p. eaav9518 ; see also p. 223

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

Amyloid β oligomers constrict human and rodent brain capillaries at pericyte locations via reactive oxygen species, endothelin-1, and pericyte ETA receptors. In human cognitive-decline biopsies and an AD mouse model, this pericyte-mediated capillary constriction is predicted to substantially reduce cerebral blood flow and can be reversed by C-type natriuretic peptide.

Key findings

  • Soluble Aβ1–42 constricted all 4 human capillaries tested by ~25% after 40 min (p=0.01); in rat slices, 16/20 capillaries (80%) constricted >5%, reaching ~15% after 1 h (p=0.006), with an apparent EC50 of 4.7 nM.
  • The Aβ-evoked constriction was blocked by ETA receptor blocker BQ-123 (p=0.008), SOD1 (p=3.7×10⁻⁶), NADPH oxidase inhibitor DPI (p=0.032), and NOX4 blocker GKT137831 (p=0.0011); NOX2 blocker ebselen reduced it by only 45%. Aβ increased ROS in pericytes 7.28-fold (p=0.001) versus 1.76-fold in Iba1-expressing immune cells (p=0.05), giving 6.4-fold more total ROS generation by pericytes.
  • In rapidly fixed biopsies from 13 living patients with cognitive decline, 7 had Aβ deposition and 6 did not. Mean capillary diameter was 8.1% smaller with Aβ deposition (p=0.0007); near pericyte somata, diameter was ~25% larger in no-Aβ patients (p=3.7×10⁻⁷) but ~30% smaller in Aβ-deposition patients (p=1.6×10⁻²⁰), predicted to reduce flow by ~50% (Discussion; Methods calculation gives 58%).
  • In APPNL-G-F AD mice in vivo, capillary diameter was smaller (p=1.7×10⁻⁹) and more strongly reduced at pericyte somata (p=1.6×10⁻¹⁷), while arterioles and venules were not constricted; cerebellar capillaries showed no constriction. CNP (100 nM) reversed Aβ-evoked capillary constriction (p=0.029), whereas combined NOX4 + ETA blockade prevented further constriction (p=0.027) but did not reverse diameter to baseline within 1 h.

Methods

  • Live human cortical slices from neurosurgical tumour-access tissue, rapidly fixed human cortical biopsies from patients with cognitive decline, rat cortical slices, and APPNL-G-F × NG2-DsRed mice were used; methods included immunohistochemistry, two-photon imaging, pericyte Ca²⁺ imaging, ROS/GSH imaging, propidium iodide death assays, and pimonidazole hypoxia labelling.
  • Capillary diameters were measured blinded to Aβ status, often as a function of distance from PDGFRβ-labelled pericyte somata; analyses used t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, linear regression slopes, and Holm-Bonferroni correction.
  • Flow effects were estimated from Poiseuille’s law, assuming pericytes spaced at 2L and capillary constriction near somata.

Limitations

  • Stated: limited live human tissue precluded detailed mechanistic analysis; the authors cannot rule out that ETA receptors are on a different cell type; the Aβ deposition measure may largely reflect plaques; GSH changes cannot be converted to ROS synthesis rates; future work is needed on ageing humans who accumulate Aβ without AD and on ET receptor affinity in AD mice.
  • Evident from the text: human biopsy data come from a small cohort (13 patients; subgroups of 6 no Aβ, 3 moderate, 4 severe), live human slice data are very limited (94 pericytes from 2 patients; 4 capillaries for Aβ), most mechanistic work is in rat slices, and the in vivo AD mouse data are from ~4-month-old mice.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1126/science.aav9518

Cites

53 of 53 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 37 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 71 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 24
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 32
49 of 49
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The ETA receptors involved in ET-evoked pericyte constriction are located on the pericytes themselves.

    “We assume that the ETA receptors involved are located on the pericytes themselves, since ET raised the [Ca2+]i in pericytes, but we cannot rule out the possibility that they are on a different cell type.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The soluble Aβ concentration correlates with plaque load.

    “although this measure of Aβ may largely reflect the presence of plaques, it is likely that the soluble Aβ concentration correlates with plaque load”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In humans, the cerebellum is relatively spared of amyloid plaque pathology.

    “an area that is relatively spared of amyloid plaque pathology in humans”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Pericytes are regularly spaced on capillaries at an interval of 2L.

    “We assume that pericytes are regularly spaced on capillaries at an interval of 2L.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Flow in capillaries is governed by Poiseuille's law.

    “For flow governed by Poiseuille’s law, the resistance of a segment of capillary of length L (from a pericyte soma to midway between two pericytes) and radius r1 is given by k.L/r14 where k is a constant.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The reduction in capillary diameter from the midpoint between pericytes to the pericyte soma is linear with distance.

    “then if this reduction is linear with distance the resistance of the capillary segment from the soma to the midpoint is given by k.L.(r12+r1.r2+r22)/(3.r13r23)”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The pressure is fixed at the pial end of penetrating arterioles and venules.

    “if the pressure is fixed at the pial end of penetrating arterioles and venules”
7 of 7

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • EC50 result is assigned to two different figures

    Minor

    The results section places the 4.7 nM EC50 in Fig. 2D, but the methods section says the same measurement is in Fig. 1D. Elsewhere, Fig. 1D is identified as showing α-smooth-muscle-actin labeling of pericytes.

1 of 1

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Metadata

Authors
Nortley, R., Korte, N., Izquierdo, P., Hirunpattarasilp, C., Mishra, A., Jaunmuktane, Z., Kyrargyri, V., Pfeiffer, T., Khennouf, L., Madry, C., Gong, H., Richard-Loendt, A., Huang, W., Saito, T., Saido, T. C., Brandner, S., Sethi, H., & Attwell, D.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • Oregon Health & Science University (US)
  • National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (GB)
  • Saarland University (DE)
  • RIKEN Center for Brain Science (JP)
  • UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (GB)
Corresponding author
  • Korte, Nils
  • Izquierdo, Pablo
  • Hirunpattarasilp, Chanawee
  • Mishra, Anusha
  • Jaunmuktane, Zane
  • Kyrargyri, Vasiliki
  • Attwell, David
Venue
Science
Published
2019-07-19
Volume
365
Issue
6450
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2951514146
Cited by
682
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 64 · 2025: 90 · 2024: 105 · 2023: 108 · 2022: 93 · 2021: 102 · 2020: 102 · 2019: 16
FWCI
34.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (099222, PhD studentship)
  • European Research Council (BrainPower & BrainEnergy)
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (KI 503/14-1 and SFB894)
  • EMBO (Fellowship)
  • Lundbeckfonden (Fellowship)
  • national institute of health research (Biomedical Research Centre)
  • Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre (PhD studentship)
  • BBSRC (PhD studentship)
  • Chulabhorn Royal Academy (PhD studentship)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Barrier Structure and Function Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
amyloid-beta oligomers, Alzheimer's disease, pericytes, brain capillaries, cerebral blood flow, vasoconstriction, mouse models of Alzheimer's disease
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Hypoxia, Biopsy, Capillaries, Cerebral Cortex, Cerebrovascular Circulation, Constriction, Pathologic, Humans, Vascular Resistance, Signal Transduction, Amyloid beta-Peptides, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Reactive Oxygen Species, Endothelin-1, Pericytes, Receptor, Endothelin A, Mice, Rats, Protein Multimerization

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