Figure 2. Functional characteristics of pericytes.

Pericytes may respond to injury by leaving their vascular niche and migrating into the damaged muscle tissue. In an environment where there is sufficient muscle fiber architecture, they will retain a muscle stem cell phenotype. However, if the tissue damage is extensive, the pericytes may not have sufficient environmental signals and will instead display a functional phenotype that resembles that of MSCs or traumatized-muscle-derived MPCs.