Pericytes News and Research

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Powerful imaging technique sheds light on how the brain responds to vascular injury

Pericytes, a little-understood type of cell on the brain's blood vessels, grow into the empty space left when neighboring pericytes die, report researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina in a January 2nd, 2018 article in Cell Reports.

4 Jan 2018

Advanced live cell imaging reveals brain’s response to blood vessel injury

Live cell imaging and laser beam ablation reveals the damage response of pericytes surrounding blood vessels in the brain.

3 Jan 2018

Researchers identify link between circadian rhythm disturbance and brain dysfunction

Researchers at Okayama University describe in the Journal of Neuroscience that a certain protein known to play a major role in circadian rhythmicity — humans’ intrinsic 24-hour biological cycle — is also key to proper brain functioning.

31 Oct 2017

Key enzyme may be therapeutic target to treat diabetes-related blood vessel damage

A key enzyme that helps our proteins fold and function properly may also be a good therapeutic target to improve blood vessel health in diseases like diabetes and atherosclerosis, scientists say.

23 Oct 2017

Study may have important implications for treatment of heart attacks and cancer

A new discovery by University of Bristol scientists helps to explain how cells which surround blood vessels, called pericytes, stimulate new blood vessels to grow with the hormone 'leptin' playing a key role.

25 Jul 2017

Researchers uncover new mechanism that promotes growth of blood vessels in tumors

Cancer cells have an enormous need for oxygen and nutrients. Therefore, growing tumors rely on the simultaneous growth of capillaries, the fine branching blood vessels that form a supply network for them.

18 Jul 2017

Cells key to blood vessel formation can also produce tumors and enable their spread

While it's widely held that tumors can produce blood vessels to support their growth, scientists now have evidence that cells key to blood vessel formation can also produce tumors and enable their spread.

20 Jun 2017

Researchers develop new approach to build better blood-brain barrier model

Delivering drugs to the brain is no easy task. The blood-brain barrier -a protective sheath of tissue that shields the brain from harmful chemicals and invaders - cannot be penetrated by most therapeutics that are injected into a person's blood stream.

6 Jun 2017

TUM scientists show how diabetes damages small blood vessels around the heart

Diabetics have a significantly higher risk of suffering a heart attack. A research team at the Technical University of Munich has now identified one of the causes: Diabetes is associated with the loss of small blood vessels around the heart.

23 Mar 2017

DGIST researchers discover mechanisms of inflammation-induced aging in animals

DGIST's research team has experimentally proved the hypothesis that the accumulated chronic inflammation results in the aging of animals.

17 Jan 2017

Powerful version of anti-inflammatory molecule may help protect vision in diabetic retinopathy

A more powerful version of an anti-inflammatory molecule already circulating in our blood may help protect our vision in the face of diabetes.

3 Jan 2017

Researchers develop new microfluidic device to study brain inflammation

The blood-brain barrier is a network of specialized cells that surrounds the arteries and veins within the brain. It forms a unique gateway that both provides brain cells with the nutrients they require and protects them from potentially harmful compounds.

6 Dec 2016

MUSC researchers harness cutting-edge technology to uncover new role for pericytes during stroke

Pericytes are the primary locus of matrix-mellaproteinase-9-dependent (MMP-9) capillary damage and blood leakage during ischemia, according to preclinical findings reported by Medical University of South Carolina investigators in an article published online on November 14, 2016 by The Journal of Neuroscience.

5 Dec 2016

Researchers trace lineage of sarcoma back to pericyte

Scientists at Duke Health are part of a team that has discovered a type of cell surrounding blood vessels can also serve as a starting point for sarcoma, a form of cancer that occurs in bones and connective tissues.

14 Jul 2016

Study reveals gpihbp1 gene could be novel target for treatment of muscular dystrophy

The average healthy man is 54 percent muscle by mass, but people with muscular dystrophy, an incurable, genetic condition, have almost no muscle at terminal stages of the disease.

2 Jun 2016

Combination of nanoscale topography and triculture technology benefits large or slow-healing wounds

Large or slow-healing wounds that do not receive adequate blood flow could benefit from a novel approach that combines a nanoscale graft onto which three different cell types are layered. Proper cell alignment on the nanograft allows for the formation of new blood vessel-like structures, as reported in of Tissue Engineering, Part A, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free for download on the Tissue Engineering website until May 26, 2016.

27 Apr 2016

Mutated gene GT198 has strong potential in early diagnosis of breast cancer

When mutated, a gene known for its ability to repair DNA, appears to instead cause breast cancer, scientists report.

21 Mar 2016

YAP protein appears to play vital role in helping control inflammation inside the brain

Inside the brain, a protein called YAP, best known for its ability to help right-size our developing hearts and livers, appears to have the different but equally important task of helping control inflammation.

23 Dec 2015

Stanford scientists identify a progenitor cell type that could repair damaged arteries

By tracking a single cell in a growing heart, scientists from Stanford University have discovered a cell type that could repair damaged arteries.

20 Oct 2015

Karolinska Institutet study may lead to development of better immune-based cancer therapies

A study by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet is the first to suggest that cells in the tumour blood vessels contribute to a local environment that protects the cancer cells from tumour-killing immune cells. The results, which are being published in the 'Journal of the National Cancer Institute', can contribute to the development of better immune-based cancer therapies.

25 Aug 2015