Publication Title
Front Cardiovasc Med
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Keywords
development; differentiation capacity; heterogeneity; origin; pericyte
Abstract
Pericytes are mural cells surrounding blood vessels, adjacent to endothelial cells. Pericytes play critical roles in maturation and maintenance of vascular branching morphogenesis. In the central nervous system (CNS), pericytes are necessary for the formation and regulation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and pericyte deficiency accompanies CNS diseases including multiple sclerosis, diabetic retinopathy, neonatal intraventricular hemorrhage, and neurodegenerative disorders. Despite the importance of pericytes, their developmental origins and phenotypic diversity remain incompletely understood. Pericytes express multiple markers and the origin of pericytes differs by tissue, which may cause difficulty for the identification and understanding of the ontogeny of pericytes. Also, pericytes have the potential to give rise to different tissues
Area of Special Interest
Cancer
Area of Special Interest
Cardiovascular (Heart)
Specialty/Research Institute
Earle A. Chiles Research Institute
Specialty/Research Institute
Cardiology
Specialty/Research Institute
Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
