title: [Changes in the subendothelial compartment during the maturation process of cerebral microvessels].
abstract: Basement lamina and pericytes of growing blood microvessels were analyzed in the chick embryo optic tectum, from the 8th incubation day to hatching. Formation of the basement lamina and morphological changes of the pericytes take place in a short range of time, but late in the embryonic life, when also the blood brain barrier (bbb) devices are developing. The spatial and temporal coincidence between basement lamina formation, endothelium tight junction differentiation, and perivascular arrangement of the astrocytic glia, indicates that these events are correlated and corroborates the hypothesis that the glia needs an extracellular matrix to induce the junctional system maturation in the neural endothelia. Pericytes are irregular in shape during the early neural angiogenesis and smooth and flattened later, as the basement lamina synthesis is taking place; these cells represent a second line of barrier beyond the endothelium when the bbb is immature, owing to their phagocytic and digestive properties.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Istologia ed Embriologia, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia dell'Università di Bari.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bertossi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ribatti
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Virgintino
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nico
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Quondamatteo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marzullo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Roncali
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D002196:Capillaries / Q000196:embryology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000502:physiology*; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000098:blood supply / Q000196:embryology / Q000648:ultrastructure
vernacular_title: Modificazioni del compartimento sottoendoteliale nel processo di maturazione dei microvasi cerebrali.