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. 2021 Jun 30;9(7):759. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9070759

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© 2021 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Regulatory functions of pericytes. In the central nervous system (CNS), platelet-derived growth factor-beta subunit (PDGF-BB) is released by endothelial cells and binds to PDGFRβ at the cell surface of pericytes to promote pericyte vascularization within the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Secretion of angiopoietin-1 (ANGPT-1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) from pericytes promotes the development of vascular endothelial cells and contributes to the maintenance of the BBB (1). Pericytes maintain neuronal health by secreting factors such as nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived nerve growth factor (BDNF), and pleiotrophin (2). Pericytes are involved in angiogenesis by secreting ANGPT-1 and erythropoietin (3) and produce a factor (Lama2) that facilitates the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) into mature oligodendrocytes (4).