Ablation of astrocytic laminin impairs vascular smooth muscle cell function and leads to hemorrhagic stroke.

ABSTRACT: Astrocytes express laminin and assemble basement membranes (BMs) at their endfeet, which ensheath the cerebrovasculature. The function of astrocytic laminin in cerebrovascular integrity is unknown. We show that ablation of astrocytic laminin by tissue-specific Cre-mediated recombination disrupted endfeet BMs and led to hemorrhage in deep brain regions of adult mice, resembling human hypertensive hemorrhage. The lack of astrocytic laminin led to impaired function of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), where astrocytes have a closer association with VSMCs in small arterioles, and was associated with hemorrhagic vessels, which exhibited VSMC fragmentation and vascular wall disassembly. Acute disruption of astrocytic laminin in the striatum of adult mice also impaired VSMC function, indicati

SUBMITTER: Chen ZL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3718965 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature