Endothelial Cells and Astrocytes: A Concerto en Duo in Ischemic Pathophysiology
Figure 1
(a) Schematic drawing of the neurovascular unit (NVU) in the capillary bed composed by the neuron, astrocyte endfoot, basal lamina, pericyte, and endothelial cell. The endothelial cell is the first barrier between the blood stream and the nervous tissue. The presence of the tight junction composes the physical barrier and the movement of substrates is controlled by several transporters. The astrocyte endfeet are linked with the gap junction, allowing movement of several solutes in the astrocyte network. The basal lamina is composed of several proteins such as agrin, dystroglycan, and perlecan. (b) A close-up schematic drawing of the endothelial cells and astrocyte endfeet with some of the proteins involved in edema formation and resolution.
