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A new insight into the role of pericytes in ischemic stroke

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Abstract

The functional structure of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) deteriorates after stroke by developing diffuse microvascular and neurovascular dysfunction and loss of white matter integrity. This causes nervous tissue injury and causes sensory and motor disabilities in stroke patients. Improving the integrity of the BBB and neurovascular remodeling after stroke can promote post-stroke injury conditions. Pericytes are contractile cells abundant in the BBB and sandwiched between astrocytes and endothelial cells of the microvessels. Stroke could lead to the degeneration of pericytes in the BBB. However, recent evidence shows that promoting pericytes enhances BBB integrity and neurovascular remodeling. Furthermore, pericytes achieve multipotent properties under hypoxic conditions, allowing them to transdifferentiate into the brain resident cells such as microglia. Microglia regulate immunity and inflammatory response after stroke. The current review studies recent findings in the intervening mechanisms underlying the regulatory effect of pericytes in BBB recovery after stroke.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Fatemehsadat Seyedaghamiri, Tahereh Ghadiri & Abbas Ebrahimi-Kalan

  2. Neurosciences Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Mohammad Hossein Geranmayeh

  3. Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Leila Hosseini

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  1. Fatemehsadat Seyedaghamiri
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  2. Mohammad Hossein Geranmayeh
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  3. Tahereh Ghadiri
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  4. Abbas Ebrahimi-Kalan
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  5. Leila Hosseini
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FS searched the literature and drafted the manuscript. FS, TG, AE, MHG, and LH critically revised the manuscript. All authors have made contributions to the work and approved it for publication.

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Correspondence to Leila Hosseini.

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Seyedaghamiri, F., Geranmayeh, M.H., Ghadiri, T. et al. A new insight into the role of pericytes in ischemic stroke. Acta Neurol Belg (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-023-02391-y

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