Fig. 5: Lack of overt BBB disruption or perivascular inflammation with focal pericyte loss. | Nature Communications

Fig. 5: Lack of overt BBB disruption or perivascular inflammation with focal pericyte loss.

From: Pericyte remodeling is deficient in the aged brain and contributes to impaired capillary flow and structure

Fig. 5

a Imaging time course to examine for extravasation of intravenous (i.v.) 10 kDa FITC-dextran dye in aged mice. Pre-ablation image shows location of targeted pericytes and sham irradiation controls. At day 3, T=0 shows regions of interest (ROI) from which fluorescence intensity measurements were collected over time. This is a representative example from 8 ablation experiments. b Intensity of FITC-dextran fluorescence within the capillary lumen as a function of time post-injection. Data shown as mean ± SEM. Fluor. Intensity = fluorescence intensity. c Intensity of FITC-dextran fluorescence in parenchymal ROI between ablation and sham regions. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. d Rate of fluorescence intensity change between ablation and sham ROI regions. Wilcoxon rank sum test (two-sided), p = 0.904. N = 7 ablation regions and n = 7 sham regions from 4 aged mice. Data shown as mean ± SEM. In vivo two-photon images from adult Pdgfrβ-tdtomato;Cx3Cr1-GFP mice, showing microglia reaction to e pericyte ablation or f sham irradiation after 30 min and 3 days. ROIs are drawn in the region directly exposed to laser ablation or irradiation (focal point), or the capillary segments covered by pericyte processes (territory). This is a representative example from 3 ablation experiments in adult mice. GFP intensity in focal point (g) and territory (h) after pericyte ablation and sham in adult mice, shown in arbitrary units (a.u.). Two-way repeated measures ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons (two-sided). Focal point: F(1.45, 7.252) = 24.41, overall effect ***p = 0.0009. Pericyte ablation vs. sham irradiation *p = 0.0216 at 30 min; p = 0.5504 at 3 days. Territory: F(1.149, 5.744) = 3.170, p = 0.1263. GFP intensity in focal point (i) and territory (j) in aged mice. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA. Focal point: F(1.03, 7.183) = 3.214, overall effect p = 0.1146. Territory: F(1.761, 12.33) = 0.2922, p = 0.7248. For g and h, n = 3 pericyte ablations, 4 sham irradiations from 5 mice between 3 and 6 months of age. For i and j, n = 5 pericyte ablations, 4 sham irradiations from 3 mice between 18 and 24 months of age. Data presented as mean ± SEM.

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