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Updated: Sep 11, 2025
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A High Output Method to Isolate Cerebral Pericytes from Mouse
Published on: January 14, 2020
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Pericytes in tissue fibrosis.
Izabela Tuleta1, Nikolaos G Frangogiannis1
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York, United States.
American Journal of Physiology. Cell Physiology
|August 12, 2025
Summary
Pericytes, crucial for blood vessel health, may drive tissue fibrosis after injury. Understanding their activation is key to developing new therapies for fibrotic diseases.
Area of Science:
- Vascular Biology
- Cell Biology
- Pathology
Background:
- Pericytes are mural cells integral to microvascular integrity and regulation.
- Identifying pericytes is challenging due to a lack of specific markers.
- Pericytes are increasingly recognized for their roles beyond vascular regulation, including in tissue repair, inflammation, and fibrosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the fate, activation mechanisms, and role of pericytes in tissue fibrosis.
- To discuss organ-specific pericyte involvement in fibrotic conditions.
- To highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting pericyte activation in fibrosis.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of pericyte function in fibrosis.
- Analysis of mechanisms underlying pericyte activation.
- Synthesis of organ-specific data on pericyte roles in kidney, liver, lung, heart, and CNS fibrosis.
Main Results:
- Pericytes can acquire inflammatory and profibrotic phenotypes post-injury.
- Activated pericytes contribute to fibrosis by secreting growth factors and remodeling the extracellular matrix.
- Conflicting findings on pericyte plasticity (conversion to fibroblasts/myofibroblasts) exist, potentially due to organ-specific differences and methodological variations.
Conclusions:
- Pericyte activation is a significant mechanism in the development of tissue fibrosis across multiple organs.
- Understanding pericyte behavior is critical for designing targeted antifibrotic therapies.
- Further research is needed to clarify pericyte plasticity and optimize therapeutic strategies.
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