The pericyte connectome: spatial precision of neurovascular coupling is driven by selective connectivity maps of pericytes and endothelial cells and is disrupted in diabetes.

ABSTRACT: Functional hyperemia, or the matching of blood flow with activity, directs oxygen and nutrients to regionally firing neurons. The mechanisms responsible for this spatial accuracy remain unclear but are critical for brain function and establish the diagnostic resolution of BOLD-fMRI. Here, we described a mosaic of pericytes, the vasomotor capillary cells in the living retina. We then tested whether this net of pericytes and surrounding neuroglia predicted a connectivity map in response to sensory stimuli. Surprisingly, we found that these connections were not only selective across cell types, but also highly asymmetric spatially. First, pericytes connected predominantly to other neighboring pericytes and endothelial cells, and less to arteriolar smooth muscle cells, and not to surrounding n

SUBMITTER: Kovacs-Oller T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7296038 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature