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CAPILLARY PERICYTES

A tense relationship between capillaries and pericytes

Nature Neuroscience volume 24, pages 615–617 (2021)Cite this article

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Most of the cerebral microcirculation is comprised of capillaries that are lined with pericytes, but the influence of pericytes on local blood flow was not previously established. A new study by Hartmann and colleagues uses selective optical ablation or activation to demonstrate that capillary pericytes exert both static and slow types of regulation on capillary diameter to affect flow, which are distinct from canonical rapid regulation by arteriole smooth muscle.

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Fig. 1: Thin-strand pericytes provide slow regulation of capillary tone.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Adam Institoris & Grant R. Gordon

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  1. Adam Institoris
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  2. Grant R. Gordon
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Correspondence to Grant R. Gordon.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Institoris, A., Gordon, G.R. A tense relationship between capillaries and pericytes. Nat Neurosci 24, 615–617 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-021-00853-1

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