A subtype of cerebrovascular pericytes is associated with blood-brain barrier disruption that develops during normal aging and simian immunodeficiency virus infection.

ABSTRACT: Lax phenotypic characterization of these morphologically distinct pericytes has delayed our understanding of their role in neurological disorders. We herein establish markers which uniquely distinguish different subpopulations of human brain microvascular pericytes and characterize them independently from cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells. Furthermore, we begin to elucidate the roles of these subsets in blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown by studying natural aging and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in rhesus macaques. We demonstrate that the main type-1 pericyte subpopulation in the brain of young uninfected adults is positive for platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β (PDGFRB) and negative for α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) and myosin heavy chain 11 (MYH11), whereas PDGFR

SUBMITTER: Bohannon DG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7721991 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature