Fig. 2

Pericyte morphology and vessel basal lamina relationships. a Morphology of an activated, PDGFR-β⁺ pericyte in contact with the collagen type IV⁺ basal lamina of a neocortex microvessel from a 22-week-old human fetus; note the abluminal bumpy surface of the PC (arrow), a detail well-depicted by the scanning electron microscopy 3D image (b; 14-day-old chick embryo) [from [5] with permission]. c, d The NG2 isoform, specifically recognized by antibody 2161F9, is able to outlines the finer cell details, thus describing the real extension of the pericyte coverage (c, inset) and its relation with the collagen VI-enriched basal lamina (d); note a pericyte conduit and its collagen VI sleeve (d, inset). e, f NG2 2161F9 immunostaining shows few large gaps in the pericyte coverage (better shown in e, inset); on the same field (f), a TNT/MT-like intervascular bridge is revealed by collagen VI staining; the inset shows two PCs close to the site of TNT/MT origin (arrowheads). a, c–f, Human telencephalon 22 wg. Scale bars a 7.5 µm; b–f 10 µm