Fig. 1. Sphincters on proximal branches of penetrating arterioles.
a Left panel: Maximal intensity projected in vivo two-photon laser scanning microscopy image of an NG2-dsRed mouse barrel cortex. An indentation of the capillary lumen is observed at the branching of the PA and is encircled by bright dsRed cell(s) (dashed insert). This structure is denoted as a precapillary sphincter. Immediately after the sphincter, a sparsely dsRed-labeled distention of the capillary lumen is observed, which we refer to as the bulb. Right panels: Single z-plane showing overlay, FITC-channel, and dsRed channel of the dashed insert. Arrows indicate the PA (red), sphincter (blue), bulb (green), and 1st order capillary (yellow). b–d Local TPLSM projections of precapillary sphincters in the cortex of a thinned skull mouse in vivo (b), an awake mouse harboring a chronic cranial window in vivo (c) with white arrows marking the precapillary sphincter, and an ex vivo coronal slice of a FITC-conjugated lectin (green) stained NG2-dsRed mouse (red) with DAPI-stained (blue) nuclei (d). The precapillary sphincter cell nucleus is arched, as it follows the cell shape, and is marked by a white arrowhead. e Schematic of a PA with the a a precapillary sphincter at the proximal branch point. The illustration is based on confocal imaging of coronal slices ex vivo and the exact morphology and location of NG2-dsRed positive cells and their DAPI stained nuclei are shown. For the complete figure including a venule, see Supplementary Fig. 8.