ArticleNature neuroscience2021
Brain capillary pericytes exert a substantial but slow influence on blood flow.
Article in Nature neuroscience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 264 papers.
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Who cites it
264 citing papers in PubMed, 387 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early disruptions in brain capillary blood flow control in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.The Journal of general physiology · 2026Article
- Ultrafast venous and sagittal sinus constrictions in the brain driven by abdominal pressure.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Preclinical in-vivo cerebrovascular imaging in rodent models: Methods and applications in Alzheimer's disease.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2026Review
- Neurovascular coupling in the basolateral amygdala modulates negative emotions.Cell research · 2026Article
- Cerebral Intramural Cells: A Missing Cellular Link Between Vascular Aging and Alzheimer's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Clazosentan Attenuates Endothelin-1-Induced ETA Protein Upregulation and Contractile Sensitization in Brain Pericytes.Pharmaceutics · 2026Article
- Integrated two-photon and photoacoustic microscopy for single-cell neurometabolic imaging.Nature communications · 2026Article
- IPbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Knockdown of endothelial Serpine1 improves stroke recovery by attenuating peri-infarct blood flow and blood-brain barrier disruption.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- Postresuscitation Cerebral Vasospasm and Capillary Failure After Experimental Asphyxial Cardiac Arrest.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- A pericyte chloride clamp mechanism governs capillary control of cerebral blood flow.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Glymphatic system impairment in neurological disorders: potential mechanisms and therapeutic targets.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Transcriptional analyses identify pericyte-centered signaling programs altered by sex and brain region in Alzheimer's Disease.Communications biology · 2026Article
- On-Chip Evaluation of Red Blood Cell Deformability Through Transit Velocity Index in Hematological Diseases.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Article
- Rediscovery of pericytes within the neurovascular unit for cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Review
- TNF inhibition differentially impacts regional Abeta immunotherapy efficacy in the humanized hAbAlzheimer's research & therapy · 2026Article
- Chemogenetic modulation of CNS pericytes: Impact on pericyte CaMolecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2026Article
- Live imaging of vascular dynamics in mouse skin.The Journal of investigative dermatology · 2026Article
- Cerebral capillary computation.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2026Review
- Toxic Alpha-Synuclein and the Opening of the Gate: Blood-Brain Barrier Damage and Stepwise Leukocyte Infiltration.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
204 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The majority of the brain's vasculature is composed of intricate capillary networks lined by capillary pericytes. However, it remains unclear whether capillary pericytes influence blood flow. Using two-photon microscopy to observe and manipulate brain capillary pericytes in vivo, we find that their optogenetic stimulation decreases lumen diameter and blood flow, but with slower kinetics than similar stimulation of mural cells on upstream pial and precapillary arterioles. This slow vasoconstriction was inhibited by the clinically used vasodilator fasudil, a Rho-kinase inhibitor that blocks contractile machinery. Capillary pericytes were also slower to constrict back to baseline following hypercapnia-induced dilation, and slower to dilate towards baseline following optogenetically induced vasoconstriction. Optical ablation of single capillary pericytes led to sustained local dilation and a doubling of blood cell flux selectively in capillaries lacking pericyte contact. These data indicate that capillary pericytes contribute to basal blood flow resistance and slow modulation of blood flow throughout the brain.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.