Non-invasive characterization of pericyte dysfunction in mouse brain using functional ultrasound localization microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Early microscopic-scale pericyte dysfunction contributes to the initial stages of many neurological diseases and represents a strong candidate target for therapeutic intervention. A non-invasive imaging modality able to image microvascular alterations induced by pericyte dysfunction is needed. In addition, the development of pericyte-focused therapies remains challenging due to the lack of early biomarkers of disease progression. Here we show that cerebral microvascular alterations induced by pericyte dysfunction can be characterized non-invasively in mice using functional ultrasound localization microscopy (fULM). Depletion of endothelial endoglin in adult mice as a model of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia, leads to pericyte detachment in the arteriole-capillary transition (ACT) zo

SUBMITTER: Thalgott JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12920088 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature