Fig. 3

In vivo demonstration of the ischemia-induced pericyte contractions. a-c AOSLO created an opportunity of observing retinal pericytes on microvessels in NG2-DsRed mice in vivo along with retinal blood flow. a Prior to ischemia, pericytes (notably their somas) emitting red fluorescence were visible on microvessels exhibiting an uninterrupted blood flow (green). Vessels were visualized by the motion contrast created by erythrocyte flow and pseudo-colored depending on flow intensity b After recanalisation of the occluded central retinal artery, the microcirculation could not be visualized in some microvessels (no-reflow) because AOSLO makes vessels visible by detecting the erythrocyte motion in their lumen (pseudo-colored in green). c Some microvessels exhibited a thin stream of flow (incomplete reperfusion). The frequent stalls (black segments, arrowheads) in partially reperfused capillaries is due to reduced perfusion pressure caused by constrictions, some of which correspond to pericyte somas visible in the red channel (inset). Scale bars = 10 μm. For videos, please see the Additional files