Pericyte ablation causes hypoactivity and reactive gliosis in adult mice

Capillary pericytes are important regulators of cerebral blood flow, blood-brain barrier integrity and neuroinflammation, but can become lost or dysfunctional in disease. The consequences of pericyte loss or dysfunction is extremely difficult to discern when it forms one component of a complex disease process. To evaluate this directly, we examined the effect of adult pericyte loss on mouse voluntary movement and motor function, and physiological responses such as hypoxia, blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity and glial reactivity. Tamoxifen delivery to Pdgfrβ-CreER