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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Nov 4.
Published in final edited form as: Neuron. 2010 Nov 4;68(3):409–427. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.09.043

Figure 3. Age-Dependent Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption to Plasma Proteins in Pericyte-Deficient Mice.

Figure 3

(A) Confocal microscopy analysis of plasma-derived IgG (red) and fluorescein-conjugated lectin-positive microvessels (green) in the hippocampus of an 8 month old Pdgfrβ+/+ and in 1, 8 and 16 month old Pdgfrβ+/− mice. Arrows, extravascular IgG deposits.

(B–C) Quantification of extravascular IgG deposits in the hippocampus of 1 month old Pdgfrβ+/− mice (black bar) and Pdgfrβ+/+ controls (white bar) (B), and in 6–8 and 14–16 month old Pdgfrβ+/− mice (black bars), and Pdgfrβ+/+ controls (white bars) and 6–8 month old F7 mice (gray bar) (C).

In B and C, 24 randomly chosen fields (420 × 420 μm) within the hippocampus were analyzed from 6 non-adjacent sections per mouse. Values are mean ± s.e.m., n=6 mice per group; *p<0.05 or **p<0.01 by one-way ANOVA. (See Fig. S2).

(D) Negative correlation between an age-dependent IgG brain accumulation and loss of pericyte capillary coverage in the hippocampus of Pdgfrβ+/− mice. Single data points were from 1 (red), 6–8 (blue) and 14–16 (black) month old Pdgfrβ+/− mice (n=18). r = Pearson’s coefficient.

(E) Confocal microscopy imaging of IgG deposits (green) around lectin-positive capillaries (white) lacking pericyte coverage (red; negative desmin staining) in an 8 month old Pdgfrβ+/− mouse. Orthogonal views suggest that microvessels lacking pericyte coverage have significant perivascular IgG accumulation.

(F) Confocal microscopy analysis of IgG (green) and a pericyte marker PDGFRβ (red) on lectin-positive (blue) pericyte-covered capillary in an 8 month old F7 mutant mouse. Orthogonal views show IgG accumulation in a PDGFRβ-positive pericyte in a F7 mouse.