Targeting pericyte differentiation as a strategy to modulate kidney fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy

BD Humphreys - Seminars in nephrology, 2012 - Elsevier
Pericytes are a heterogeneous group of extensively branched cells located in microvessels
where they make focal contacts with endothelium. Pericytes stabilize blood vessels, regulate
vascular tone, synthesize matrix, participate in repair, and serve as progenitor cells, among
other functions. Recent work has highlighted the role of pericytes and pericyte-like cells in
fibrosis, in which chronic injury triggers pericyte proliferation and differentiation into collagen-
secretory, contractile myofibroblasts with migration away from vessels, causing …