To assess if the homing effect can be also seen in vivo, we next transplanted iPSC-pericytes into the hippocampi of pericyte-deficient mice. Similar to the ex vivo results, we confirmed that iPSC-pericytes can home to brain capillaries of mice in vivo

To assess the specificity of homing, we downregulated PDGFRB a key pericyte surface receptor involved in cell adhesion in iPSC-pericytes (using siRNA), which resulted in reduced homing.

Then we asked whether iPSC-pericytes can home to brain capillaries in host brains with reduced pericyte coverage. We added our cells to live brain slices of pericyte-deficient mice

New preprint🚨 We generated human brain pericytes from pluripotent stem cells. They show strong molecular & functional similarities to primary human brain pericytes

Transplanted into pericyte-deficient mice, they formed hybrid human-mouse microvessels🐭

biorxiv.org/content/10.1...