Fig. 5: Type A pericytes remain associated with the vascular wall following ischemic stroke confined to the striatum.

a Type A pericytes and parenchymal astrocytes are recombined (EYFP⁺) throughout the cortex (Ctx) and striatum (St) of GLAST-CreER^T2;R26R-EYFP mice. Dashed line separates cortex from striatum. b Type A pericyte (EYFP⁺) encircling the endothelial tube (podocalyxin⁺, Pdx) and expressing the pericyte marker PDGFRβ in the striatum. c Lesion model and experimental timeline. Red represents the lesion. Distribution of EYFP⁺ cells at 5 days (d), 14 days (e), and 7 weeks (f) following ischemia. Type A pericyte-derived cells (EYFP⁺GFAP^_ cells) occupy the ischemic lesion core (outlined by dashed lines), surrounded by a partially recombined GFAP⁺ glial scar. Lesion core area (g) and number of EYFP⁺PDGFRβ⁺ cells per section (h). EYFP⁺PDGFRβ⁺ cells in the ischemic core (i) do not leave the vascular wall (Pdx⁺) (j). Magnified boxed region in (i) shown on the right. EYFP⁺ cells disperse among CD45⁺ immune cells at 5 days (k, l) and 14 days (p, q) after stroke. EYFP⁺PDGFRβ⁺ cells occupy the lesion core, bordered by partly recombined EYFP⁺PDGFRβ⁻ glial cells at 14 days after stroke (m–o). k, p, m show overviews of the lesion and l, n, o, q close-ups of the ischemic core. Dashed lines in (n, p) demarcate the glial-fibrotic lesion border. EYFP⁺ cells proliferate (arrowheads in (r) point at Ki67⁺EYFP⁺ cells) and do not express αSMA (s) at 5 days after stroke. Magnified boxed region in (s) shown on the right. EYFP⁺ cells are encased by fibronectin (t) and collagen I (u) ECM at 14 days after stroke. v Density of EYFP⁺PDGFRβ⁺ cells overtime. w Most EYFP⁺PDGFRβ⁺ cells remain associated with the vascular wall (ON vessel) after striatal stroke. x Distance of EYFP⁺PDGFRβ⁺ cells from the nearest vessel surface in the contralateral striatum and after stroke. Each dot represents one cell. y Percentage of PDGFRβ ⁺ cells that express EYFP out of total PDGFRβ⁺ cells. TAM tamoxifen; Scale bars: 200 μm (a, d–f, i, k, m), 100 μm (close up i, j, l, n–p), 50 μm (q–u) and 5 μm (b). Data shown as mean ± s.e.m. n = 9 (Contralateral), n = 3 (5d), n = 3 (14d) and n = 3 (7w) animals in (g, h, v, w, y); n = 127 (Contralateral), n = 195 (5d), n = 248 (14d) and n = 122 (7w) cells examined over 3 animals in (x). ns non-significant; **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 by One-Way ANOVA followed by Holm–Sidak post-hoc test in (g, h, v, y) and Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s post-hoc test in (x). Cell nuclei are labeled with DAPI. All images show coronal sections. Images are representative of two independent experiments. Source data and statistical test results are provided as a Source Data file.