What is a pericyte?

Pericytes regulate the blood–brain barrier

Armulik, A., Genové, G., Mäe, M., Nisancioglu, M. H., Wallgard, E., Niaudet, C., He, L., Norlin, J., Lindblom, P., Strittmatter, K., et al. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature09522 · Cited by 2,843 · see citing works

Glial and neuronal control of brain blood flow

Attwell, D., Buchan, A. M., Charpak, S., Lauritzen, M., MacVicar, B. A., & Newman, E. A. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature09613 · Cited by 2,511 · see citing works

Pericytes are required for blood–brain barrier integrity during embryogenesis

Daneman, R., Zhou, L., Kebede, A. A., & Barres, B. A. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature09513 · Cited by 2,128 · see citing works

Blood-brain barrier breakdown in the aging human hippocampus

Montagne, A., Barnes, S. R., Sweeney, M. D., Halliday, M. R., Sagare, A. P., Zhao, Z., Toga, A. W., Jacobs, R. E., Liu, C. Y., Amezcua, L., et al. (2015) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2014.12.032 · Cited by 2,102 · see citing works

Capillary pericytes regulate cerebral blood flow in health and disease

Hall, C. N., Reynell, C., Gesslein, B., Hamilton, N. B., Mishra, A., Sutherland, B. A., O’Farrell, F. M., Buchan, A. M., Lauritzen, M., & Attwell, D. (2014) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature13165 · Cited by 1,870 · see citing works

Pericytes Control Key Neurovascular Functions and Neuronal Phenotype in the Adult Brain and during Brain Aging

Bell, R. D., Winkler, E. A., Sagare, A. P., Singh, I., LaRue, B., Deane, R., & Zlokovic, B. V. (2010) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2010.09.043 · Cited by 1,448 · see citing works

Bidirectional control of CNS capillary diameter by pericytes

Peppiatt, C. M., Howarth, C., Mobbs, P., & Attwell, D. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05193 · Cited by 1,150 · see citing works

Pericyte contraction induced by oxidative-nitrative stress impairs capillary reflow despite successful opening of an occluded cerebral artery

Yemişçi, M., Özdemir, Y., Vural, A., Can, A., Topalkara, K., & Dalkara, T. (2009) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/nm.2022 · Cited by 780 · see citing works

Regional Blood Flow in the Normal and Ischemic Brain Is Controlled by Arteriolar Smooth Muscle Cell Contractility and Not by Capillary Pericytes

Hill, R., Тонг, Л., Yuan, P., Murikinati, S. R., Gupta, S., & Grutzendler, J. (2015) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.06.001 · Cited by 704 · see citing works

Accelerated pericyte degeneration and blood–brain barrier breakdown in apolipoprotein E4 carriers with Alzheimer’s disease

Halliday, M. R., Rege, S. V., Ma, Q., Zhao, Z., Miller, C. A., Winkler, E. A., & Zlokovic, B. V. (2016) · Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism · doi:10.1038/jcbfm.2015.44 · Cited by 649 · see citing works

Der feinere Bau der Blutcapillaren

Zimmermann, K. W. (1923) · Brain Structure and Function · doi:10.1007/bf02593544 · Cited by 511 · see citing works

The Roles of Cerebral Blood Flow, Capillary Transit Time Heterogeneity, and Oxygen Tension in Brain Oxygenation and Metabolism

Jespersen, S. N., & Østergaard, L. (2011) · Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism · doi:10.1038/jcbfm.2011.153 · Cited by 500 · see citing works

Pericytes support neutrophil subendothelial cell crawling and breaching of venular walls in vivo

Pröbstl, D., Voisin, M.-B., Woodfin, A., Whiteford, J. R., D’Acquisto, F., Jones, G. E., Rowe, D. W., & Nourshargh, S. (2012) · The Journal of Experimental Medicine · doi:10.1084/jem.20111622 · Cited by 467 · see citing works

Pericytes in capillaries are contractile in vivo, but arterioles mediate functional hyperemia in the mouse brain

Fernández-Klett, F., Offenhauser, N., Dirnagl, U., Priller, J., & Lindauer, U. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1011321108 · Cited by 399 · see citing works

Heterogeneity of microvascular pericytes for smooth muscle type alpha-actin.

Nehls, V., & Drenckhahn, D. (1991) · The Journal of Cell Biology · doi:10.1083/jcb.113.1.147 · Cited by 388 · see citing works

Der Feinere Bau der Blutcapillaren

Zimmermann, K. W. (1923) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-92456-9 · Cited by 376 · see citing works

Pericyte structure and distribution in the cerebral cortex revealed by high-resolution imaging of transgenic mice

Hartmann, D. A., Underly, R. G., Grant, R. I., Watson, A. N., Lindner, V., & Shih, A. Y. (2015) · Neurophotonics · doi:10.1117/1.nph.2.4.041402 · Cited by 306 · see citing works

Squalenoyl adenosine nanoparticles provide neuroprotection after stroke and spinal cord injury

Gaudin, A., Yemişçi, M., Eroğlu, H., Lepêtre‐Mouelhi, S., Türkoğlu, Ö. F., Dönmez‐Demir, B., Caban-Toktas, S., Sargon, M. F., Garcia‐Argote, S., Pieters, G., et al. (2014) · Nature Nanotechnology · doi:10.1038/nnano.2014.274 · Cited by 261 · see citing works

CNS pericytes: Concepts, misconceptions, and a way out

Krueger, M. W., & Bechmann, I. (2009) · Glia · doi:10.1002/glia.20898 · Cited by 246 · see citing works

Contractile proteins in pericytes at the blood-brain and blood-retinal barriers

Bandopadhyay, R., Orte, C., Lawrenson, J. G., Reid, A. R., Silva, S. D., & Allt, G. (2001) · Journal of Neurocytology · doi:10.1023/a:1011965307612 · Cited by 244 · see citing works

Early Loss of Pericytes and Perivascular Stromal Cell-Induced Scar Formation after Stroke

Fernández‐Klett, F., Potas, J. R., Hilpert, D., Blazej, K., Radke, J., Huck, J. H. J., Engel, O., Stenzel, W., Genové, G., & Priller, J. (2012) · Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism · doi:10.1038/jcbfm.2012.187 · Cited by 230 · see citing works

Brain microvascular pericytes in health and disease

Dalkara, T., Özdemir, Y., & Yemişçi, M. (2011) · Acta Neuropathologica · doi:10.1007/s00401-011-0847-6 · Cited by 225 · see citing works

Morphology and Properties of Pericytes

Dore‐Duffy, P., & Cleary, K. (2010) · Methods in molecular biology · doi:10.1007/978-1-60761-938-3_2 · Cited by 213 · see citing works

Cerebral microvascular pericytes and neurogliovascular signaling in health and disease

Dalkara, T., & Alarcón-Martínez, L. (2015) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2015.03.047 · Cited by 126 · see citing works

Cholinergic regulation of pericyte-containing retinal microvessels

Wu, D. M., Kawamura, H., Sakagami, K., Kobayashi, M., & Puro, D. G. (2003) · American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajpheart.01007.2002 · Cited by 100 · see citing works

Diverse Functions of Pericytes in Cerebral Blood Flow Regulation and Ischemia

Fernández‐Klett, F., & Priller, J. (2015) · Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism · doi:10.1038/jcbfm.2015.60 · Cited by 93 · see citing works

Pericytes as a new target for pathological processes in CADASIL

Dziewulska, D., & Lewandowska, E. (2012) · Neuropathology · doi:10.1111/j.1440-1789.2011.01290.x · Cited by 84 · see citing works

Capillary Flow and Diameter Changes during Reperfusion after Global Cerebral Ischemia Studied by Intravital Video Microscopy

Hauck, E. F., Apostel, S., Hoffmann, J. F., Heimann, A., & Kempski, O. S. (2004) · Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism · doi:10.1097/00004647-200404000-00003 · Cited by 82 · see citing works

The Neurovascular Unit Coming of Age: A Journey through Neurovascular Coupling in Health and Disease

Iadecola, C. (2017) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2017.07.030 · Cited by 2,480 · see citing works

A molecular atlas of cell types and zonation in the brain vasculature

Vanlandewijck, M., He, L., Mäe, M. A., Andrae, J., Ando, K., Del Gaudio, F., Nahar, K., Lebouvier, T., Laviña, B., Gouveia, L., et al. (2018) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature25739 · Cited by 2,074 · see citing works

Shared and distinct transcriptomic cell types across neocortical areas

Tasic, B., Yao, Z., Graybuck, L. T., Smith, K. A., Nguyen, T. N., Bertagnolli, D., Goldy, J., Garren, E., Economo, M. N., Viswanathan, S., et al. (2018) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0654-5 · Cited by 1,746 · see citing works

The blood–brain barrier: Structure, regulation and drug delivery

Wu, D., Chen, Q., Chen, X., Han, F., Chen, Z., & Wang, Y. (2023) · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy · doi:10.1038/s41392-023-01481-w · Cited by 1,906 · see citing works

Pericytes of the neurovascular unit: key functions and signaling pathways

Sweeney, M. D., Ayyadurai, S., & Zlokovic, B. V. (2016) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.4288 · Cited by 1,125 · see citing works

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

Nortley, R., Korte, N., Izquierdo, P., Hirunpattarasilp, C., Mishra, A., Jaunmuktane, Z., Kyrargyri, V., Pfeiffer, T., Khennouf, L., Madry, C., et al. (2019) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aav9518 · Cited by 682 · see citing works

Pericyte degeneration leads to neurovascular uncoupling and limits oxygen supply to brain

Kisler, K., Nelson, A. R., Rege, S. V., Ramanathan, A., Wang, Y., Ahuja, A., Lazic, D., Tsai, P. S., Zhao, Z., Zhou, Y., et al. (2017) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.4489 · Cited by 497 · see citing works

Pericytes and Neurovascular Function in the Healthy and Diseased Brain

Brown, L. S., Foster, C. G., Courtney, J.-M., King, N. E., Howells, D. W., & Sutherland, B. A. (2019) · Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncel.2019.00282 · Cited by 406 · see citing works

Brain Pericytes As Mediators of Neuroinflammation

Rustenhoven, J., Jansson, D., Smyth, L. C., & Dragunow, M. (2017) · Trends in Pharmacological Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tips.2016.12.001 · Cited by 371 · see citing works

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and neuroinflammation: Implications for neurodegenerative disease treatment

Kopp, K. O., Glotfelty, E. J., Li, Y., & Greig, N. H. (2022) · Pharmacological Research · doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2022.106550 · Cited by 298 · see citing works

Dynamic Remodeling of Pericytes In Vivo Maintains Capillary Coverage in the Adult Mouse Brain

Berthiaume, A.-A., Grant, R. I., McDowell, K. P., Underly, R. G., Hartmann, D. A., Levy, M., Bhat, N. R., & Shih, A. Y. (2018) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2017.12.016 · Cited by 223 · see citing works

Exploring early human brain development with structural and physiological neuroimaging

Vasung, L., Abaci Turk, E., Ferradal, S. L., Sutin, J., Stout, J. N., Ahtam, B., Lin, P.-Y., & Grant, P. E. (2019) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.07.041 · Cited by 177 · see citing works

Pericytes impair capillary blood flow and motor function after chronic spinal cord injury

Li, Y., Lucas-Osma, A. M., Black, S., Bandet, M. V., Stephens, M. J., Vavrek, R., Sanelli, L., Fenrich, K. K., Di Narzo, A. F., Dracheva, S., et al. (2017) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/nm.4331 · Cited by 164 · see citing works

Benchmarking in vitro tissue-engineered blood–brain barrier models

DeStefano, J. G., Jamieson, J. J., Linville, R. M., & Searson, P. C. (2018) · Fluids and Barriers of the CNS · doi:10.1186/s12987-018-0117-2 · Cited by 142 · see citing works

Endothelial C-Type Natriuretic Peptide Acts on Pericytes to Regulate Microcirculatory Flow and Blood Pressure

Špiranec, K., Chen, W., Werner, F., Nikolaev, V. O., Naruke, T., Koch, F., Werner, A., Eder-Negrin, P., Diéguez-Hurtado, R., Adams, R. H., et al. (2018) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/circulationaha.117.033383 · Cited by 135 · see citing works

Regional early and progressive loss of brain pericytes but not vascular smooth muscle cells in adult mice with disrupted platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β signaling

Nikolakopoulou, A. M., Zhao, Z., Montagne, A., & Zlokovic, B. V. (2017) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0176225 · Cited by 109 · see citing works

The link between neuroinflammation and the neurovascular unit in synucleinopathies

Wang, Q., Zheng, J., Pettersson, S., Reynolds, R., & Tan, E.-K. (2023) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.abq1141 · Cited by 81 · see citing works

Channelrhodopsin Excitation Contracts Brain Pericytes and Reduces Blood Flow in the Aging Mouse Brain in vivo

Nelson, A. R., Sagare, M. A., Wang, Y., Kisler, K., Zhao, Z., & Zlokovic, B. V. (2020) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2020.00108 · Cited by 73 · see citing works

Sympathetic neuropeptide Y protects from obesity by sustaining thermogenic fat

Zhu, Y., Yao, L., Gallo-Ferraz, A. L., Bombassaro, B., Simões, M. R., Abe, I., Chen, J., Sarker, G., Ciccarelli, A., Zhou, L., et al. (2024) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07863-6 · Cited by 78 · see citing works

Prenatal disruption of blood–brain barrier formation via cyclooxygenase activation leads to lifelong brain inflammation

Zhao, Q., Dai, W., Chen, H. Y., Jacobs, R. E., Zlokovic, B. V., Lund, B. T., Montagne, A., & Bonnin, A. (2022) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2113310119 · Cited by 52 · see citing works

Pericytes: Problems and Promises for CNS Repair

Laredo, F., Plebanski, J., & Tedeschi, A. (2019) · Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncel.2019.00546 · Cited by 44 · see citing works

APOE3-Christchurch variant enhances neurovascular support functions of iPSC-derived mesenchymal stromal cells

Rodriguez Martinez, P. J., Yslas, A. R., Inoue, Y., Parsons, T. M., Baker, S. K., Lu, W., Raulin, A.-C., & Kanekiyo, T. (2026) · Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences · doi:10.3389/fmolb.2026.1778856

Pericyte Migration

Pfister, F., Feng, Y., Hagen, F. V., Hoffmann, S., Molema, G., Hillebrands, J., Shani, M., Deutsch, U., & Hammes, H. (2008) · Diabetes · doi:10.2337/db08-0325 · Cited by 245 · see citing works

Pericyte Signaling in the Neurovascular Unit

Fisher, M. (2008) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/strokeaha.108.533117 · Cited by 145 · see citing works

Pericyte Coculture Models to Study Astrocyte, Pericyte, and Endothelial Cell Interactions

Katyshev, V., & Dore‐Duffy, P. (2011) · Methods in molecular biology · doi:10.1007/978-1-61779-452-0_31 · Cited by 16 · see citing works

Microvascular pericytes involvement in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Girolamo, F., Strippoli, M., Ferrara, G., Morando, S., Perris, R., Furlan, R., Bendotti, C., Uccelli, A., Roncali, L., & Virgintino, D. (2011) · Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology · doi:10.13128/ijae-10035 · Cited by 1 · see citing works

Continuous subendothelial network formed by pericyte-like cells in human vascular bed

Andreeva, E. R., Pugach, I. M., Gordon, D., & Orekhov, A. N. (1998) · Tissue and Cell · doi:10.1016/s0040-8166(98)80014-1 · Cited by 164 · see citing works