Title:The Neurovascular Unit: Focus on the Regulation of Arterial Smooth Muscle Cells
Volume: 16
Issue: 5
Author(s): Patrícia Quelhas, Graça Baltazar and Elisa Cairrao*
Affiliation:
- CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigacao em Ciencias da Saude, University of Beira Interior, 6200-506 Covilha,Portugal
Keywords:
Neurovascular unit, smooth muscle cells, cerebral blood flow, vasoconstriction, vasodilatation.
Abstract: The neurovascular unit is a physiological unit present in the brain, which is constituted
by elements of the nervous system (neurons and astrocytes) and the vascular system (endothelial
and mural cells). This unit is responsible for the homeostasis and regulation of cerebral blood flow.
There are two major types of mural cells in the brain, pericytes and smooth muscle cells. At the arterial
level, smooth muscle cells are the main components that wrap around the outside of cerebral
blood vessels and the major contributors to basal tone maintenance, blood pressure and blood flow
distribution. They present several mechanisms by which they regulate both vasodilation and vasoconstriction
of cerebral blood vessels and their regulation becomes even more important in situations
of injury or pathology. In this review, we discuss the main regulatory mechanisms of brain
smooth muscle cells and their contributions to the correct brain homeostasis.
