Fig. 2
Altered pericyte coverage in mTBI mice. a–b Representative images (a) and quantification (b) showing extravasation of plasma IgG (red) in brain parenchyma 3 days after mTBI. n = 6 mice. Dash line indicates an average value from sham-operated group (n = 5 mice). Scale bar = 50 µm. c Representative images showing CD13-positive pericyte coverage (green), lectin-positive endothelial vascular profiles (blue) and extravasation of fibrin deposits (red) in brain parenchyma of mTBI-affected ipsilateral side or contralateral side 3 days after mTBI. Scale bar = 50 µm. Insert on right: high magnification images of boxed regions in (c1–c3), Scale bar = 10 µm. d–e Quantification of CD13-positive pericyte cell bodies per mm2 (d) and pericyte coverage on lectin microvessel profiles (e) in brain parenchyma of mTBI-affected ipsilateral side and contralateral side 3 days after mTBI. n = 9 mice per group. f Pearson’s correlation plot between BBB impairment based on fibrin deposits and loss of pericyte coverage in brain parenchyma 3 days after mTBI. n = 18 hemispheres. r = Pearson's coefficient. P, significance. g Quantification of microvascular density in the cortexes of mTBI-affected ipsilateral side and contralateral side 3 days after mTBI. n = 9 mice per group. Mean ± SD in b, d–e, g; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; NS, non-significant (P > 0.05) by Student’s t-test