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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Oct 3.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2014 Mar 26;508(7494):55–60. doi: 10.1038/nature13165

Figure 4. In ischaemia, pericytes constrict capillaries and then die in rigor.

Figure 4

a Top: capillary in a rat cortical slice in normal solution. Bottom: capillary exposed to simulated ischaemia. Right: propidium iodide (PI) labelling after one hour, showing dead pericytes (P) and endothelial cell (EC). b Vessel diameters in a, at regions indicated, over time. c Mean diameter and number of dead pericytes/(100 μm) from 9 capillaries in ischaemia (measured at 18 locations) and 6 capillaries in normal solution (13 locations). Diameter in ischaemia was reduced from control (p=1.3×10−15 and 7.7.×10−17 at 30 and 60 mins). Pericyte death was higher in ischaemia at 40 and 60 mins (Mann-Whitney p=0.041 and 0.021). A few pericytes also died on capillaries in non-ischaemic slices, but did not constrict capillaries (1.3±1.5 % diameter decrease at 3 dead pericytes on 2 vessels).