Abstract
Pericytes, as mural cells covering microvascular capillaries, play an essential role in vascular remodeling and maintaining vascular functions and blood flow. Pericytes are crucial participants in the physiological and pathological processes of cardiovascular disease. They actively interact with endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), fibroblasts, and other cells via the mechanisms involved in the secretome. The secretome of pericytes, along with diverse molecules including proinflammatory cytokines, angiogenic growth factors, and the extracellular matrix (ECM), has great impacts on the formation, stabilization, and remodeling of vasculature, as well as on regenerative processes. Emerging evidence also indicates that pericytes work as mesenchymal cells or progenitor cells in cardiovascular regeneration. Their capacity for differentiation also contributes to vascular remodeling in different ways. Previous studies primarily focused on the roles of pericytes in organs such as the brain, retina, lung, and kidney; very few studies have focused on pericytes in the heart. In this review, following a brief introduction of the origin and fundamental characteristics of pericytes, we focus on pericyte functions and mechanisms with respect to heart disease, ending with the promising use of cardiac pericytes in the treatment of ischemic heart failure.
Highlights
The critical roles of pericytes in the regulation of normal blood flow and ischemia/reperfusion-induced no-reflow were identified in recent years [70,71,94]
As mural cells surrounding vessels, are tightly associated with adjacent cells such as endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), cardiomyocytes, and fibrotic cells. Pericytes and their adjacent cells are crucially involved in vascular remodeling and maintaining vascular functions, regulating blood flow, and affecting physiological and pathological processes in regeneration of the infarcted heart
Those of other investigators, have demonstrated that cardiac pericytes can detach from the capillary and migrate into the perivascular interstitium to differentiate into myofibroblasts
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The morphology of pericytes was demonstrated for the first time, showing them to be in close proximity to endothelial cells [3]. It was found that pericytes work as potential progenitors, differentiating into other cell types under specific circumstances [7]. Differentiation of pericytes gives rise to other type of cells, such as adipocytes, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and myofibroblasts, and modulates the vascular network and blood flow [1]. Pericytes communicate and interact with adjacent cells to support the vasculature structurally and functionally [1]. We focus on the fundamental characteristics of cardiac pericytes and their interactions with adjacent cells, as well as their role in heart failure
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