REVIEW article
Front. Cell. Neurosci.
Sec. Non-Neuronal Cells
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fncel.2025.1615579
This article is part of the Research TopicCerebrovasculature in Focus: bridging the gap between mental health and illnessView all 5 articles
Walking on the Tightrope: The Shared Roles of the Bridging Pericytes in the Brain
Provisionally accepted- 1University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- 2Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
- 3UK Dementia Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The vasculature of the central nervous system (CNS) is a highly specialised structure that delivers oxygen and nutrients to energy-demanding neural cells while protecting them from the toxicity of blood-borne substances. Pericytes, located alongside microvessels, coordinate with endothelial cells to maintain the integrity of the blood-CNS barriers and to regulate vascular responses to neural activity.Pericytes extend processes that typically wrap around or align the endothelial cells, remaining embedded within the vascular basement membrane. Occasionally, however, some of these processes detach and form bridges between separate capillaries. These bridging structures are the focus of ongoing debate. While some studies propose they serve as tunnelling nanotubes mediating neurovascular coupling, others argue they may be remnants of vascular regression or involved in the process of pericyte migration.In this review, we aim to clarify these varying interpretations of bridging pericyte processes and provide a unified understanding to guide future research. We discuss their reported roles in both CNS health and disease, highlighting their potential significance in vascular ageing and rejuvenation.
Keywords: Pericytes, Brain, Capillaries, Bridging cells, tunnelling nanotubes, pericyte migration, Vascular regression
Received: 23 Apr 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chagnot and Montagne. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Audrey Chagnot, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Axel Montagne, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.