A tight squeeze: how do we make sense of small changes in microvascular diameter?

ABSTRACT: The brain is an energetically demanding tissue which, to function adequately, requires constant fine tuning of its supporting blood flow, and hence energy supply. Whilst blood flow was traditionally believed to be regulated only by vascular smooth muscle cells on arteries and arterioles supplying the brain, recent work has suggested a critical role for capillary pericytes, which are also contractile. This concept has evoked some controversy, especially over the relative contributions of arterioles and capillaries to the control of cerebral blood flow. Here we outline why pericytes are in a privileged position to control cerebral blood flow. First we discuss the evidence, and fundamental equations, which describe how the small starting diameter of capillaries, compared to upstream arteriole

SUBMITTER: Davis H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10953087 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature