Pericytes in Vascular Development

Overview

Journal Curr Tissue Microenviron Rep

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2021 Mar 22

PMID 33748774

Citations 8

Authors

Laura Beth Payne

Maruf Hoque

Clifton Houk

Jordan Darden

John C Chappell

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose Of Review: Pericytes are essential components of capillaries in many tissues and organs, contributing to vessel stability and integrity, with additional contributions to microvascular function still being discovered. We review current and foundational studies identifying pericyte differentiation mechanics and their roles in the earliest stages of vessel formation.

Recent Findings: Recent advances in pericyte-focused tools and models have illuminated critical aspects of pericyte biology including their roles in vascular development.Pericytes likely collaborate with endothelial cells undergoing vasculogenesis, initiating direct interactions during sprouting and intussusceptive angiogenesis. Pericytes also provide important regulation of vascular growth including mechanisms underlying vessel pruning, rarefaction, and subsequent regrowth.

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