Pericyte endothelial gap junctions in human cerebral capillaries.
Human cerebral tissue has been ultrastructurally studied and gap junctions have been visualized between endothelial cells and pericytes that permit ion exchange. We propose that the functional interrelationship between endothelium and pericytes may play a role in the alteration of capillary diameter for the control of local cerebral blood flow.
D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D002196:Capillaries / Q000166:cytology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D004727:Endothelium / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron