ArticleBrain : a journal of neurology2023
SARS-CoV-2 triggers pericyte-mediated cerebral capillary constriction.
Article in Brain : a journal of neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- The emerging roles of cerebral pericytes in brain metastasis.Neuro-oncology · 2026Review
- Reduced cortical brain perfusion following COVID-19 infection: impact of COVID-19 severity and relation to memory performance.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Deficiency of fibroblast growth factor 2 promotes contractile phenotype of pericytes in ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2025Article
- Pericytes: The forgotten controllers of a functional blood-brain barrier.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Pericytes in the brain and heart: functional roles and response to ischaemia and reperfusion.Cardiovascular research · 2025Review
- SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1 Subunit Triggers Pericyte and Microvascular Dysfunction in Human Pancreatic Islets.Diabetes · 2025Article
- Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of COVID-19 Disease and Post COVID Syndrome: The Role of N-acetylcysteine and Acetyl-L-carnitine.Current neuropharmacology · 2025Review
- Neurological complications caused by SARS-CoV-2.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2024Review
- Viral Infection and Ischemic Stroke: Emerging Trends and Mechanistic Insights.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2024Review
- Altered brain perfusion and oxygen levels relate to sleepiness and attention in post-COVID syndrome.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2024Article
- Review
- SARS-CoV-2 infection activates inflammatory macrophages in vascular immune organoids.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Diabetes as a Pancreatic Microvascular Disease-A Pericytic Perspective.The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society · 2024Review
- Bioinformatic characterization of ENPEP, the gene encoding a potential cofactor for SARS-CoV-2 infection.PloS one · 2024Article
- Unraveling the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein long-term effect on neuro-PASC.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2024Article
- Neurovascular coupling impairment as a mechanism for cognitive deficits in COVID-19.Brain communications · 2024Review
- SARS-CoV-2 spread to endocrine organs is associated with obesity: an autopsy study of COVID-19 cases.Endocrine · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 and vascular dysfunction: a growing role for pericytes.Cardiovascular research · 2023Article
- SARS-CoV-2 infects epithelial cells of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier rather than endothelial cells or pericytes of the blood-brain barrier.Fluids and barriers of the CNS · 2023Article
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10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 receptor, ACE2, is found on pericytes, contractile cells enwrapping capillaries that regulate brain, heart and kidney blood flow. ACE2 converts vasoconstricting angiotensin II into vasodilating angiotensin-(1-7). In brain slices from hamster, which has an ACE2 sequence similar to human ACE2, angiotensin II evoked a small pericyte-mediated capillary constriction via AT1 receptors, but evoked a large constriction when the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD, original Wuhan variant) was present. A mutated non-binding RBD did not potentiate constriction. A similar RBD-potentiated capillary constriction occurred in human cortical slices, and was evoked in hamster brain slices by pseudotyped virions expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This constriction reflects an RBD-induced decrease in the conversion of angiotensin II to angiotensin-(1-7) mediated by removal of ACE2 from the cell surface membrane and was mimicked by blocking ACE2. The clinically used drug losartan inhibited the RBD-potentiated constriction. Thus, AT1 receptor blockers could be protective in COVID-19 by preventing pericyte-mediated blood flow reductions in the brain, and perhaps the heart and kidney.
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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.