Regional Blood Flow in the Normal and Ischemic Brain Is Controlled by Arteriolar Smooth Muscle Cell Contractility and Not by Capillary Pericytes
Regional Blood Flow in the Normal and Ischemic Brain Is Controlled by Arteriolar Smooth Muscle Cell Contractility and Not by Capillary Pericytes
R. Hill,Lei Tong,3 Authors,J. Grutzendler
2015 · DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.06.001
Neuron · 631 Citations
TLDR
Capillary pericytes in mice and humans do not express smooth muscle actin and are morphologically and functionally distinct from adjacent precapillary smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and regulation of cerebral blood flow in physiological and pathological conditions is mediated by arteriolar SMCs.