Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Observation of the Ciliary Movement of Choroid Plexus Epithelial Cells Ex Vivo
Published on: July 13, 2015
Professor Toshio Ito: a clairvoyant in pericyte biology
1Department of Biochemistry and Integrative Medical Biology, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan. msuem@med.keio.ac.jp
Abstract:
Ito cells are liver-specific pericytes which were first described as Fett Speicherung Zellen, the fat-storing cells encircling outside sinusoidal endothelial cells, in 1951 by the late professor Toshio Ito. His pioneering approaches for morphological characterization of the cells stimulate investigators to further examine their functional roles in liver homeostasis: a body of evidence has been accumulated in recent years showing that the cells play a crucial role in storage and delivery of vitamin A, regulation of sinusoidal tone and local blood supply, and tissue repair and fibrosis. It is now widely accepted that microvascular pericytes including Ito cells serve as a key player that controls angiogenesis. Furthermore, recent studies support a concept that Ito cells constitutes a bridging apparatus mediating bidirectional metabolic interactions between sinusoids and hepatocytes, utilizing prostanoids and/or gaseous mediators such as nitric oxide and carbon monoxide as signaling molecules. This article reviews researches on this liver-specific pericyte and its leading roles in recent development of pericyte biology.
Related Concept Videos
Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light
Facilitated Transport
Resting Membrane Potential
The Inside of a Neuron is More Negative
The membrane potential of a cell can be measured by inserting a microelectrode into a cell and comparing the charge to a reference electrode in the extracellular fluid. The...
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy
EPS and iPS Cells in Disease Research
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways

