Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Daniel Castranova
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Aniket V Gore
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Nathan H Blewett
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Hyun Min Jung
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Amber N Stratman
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Martha R Kirby
Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
James Iben
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Mayumi F Miller
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Division of Molecular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan; Department of Genetics, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Mishima, Japan
Richard J Maraia
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
The blood-brain barrier is essential for the proper homeostasis and function of the CNS, but its mechanism of function is poorly understood. Perivascular cells surrounding brain blood vessels are thought to be important for blood-brain barrier establishment, but their roles are not well defined. Here, we describe a novel perivascular cell population closely associated with blood vessels on the zebrafish brain. Based on similarities in their morphology, location, and scavenger behavior, these cells appear to be the zebrafish equivalent of cells variably characterized as Fluorescent Granular Perithelial cells (FGPs), perivascular macrophages, or ‘Mato Cells’ in mammals. Despite their macrophage-like morphology and perivascular location, zebrafish FGPs appear molecularly most similar to lymphatic endothelium, and our imaging studies suggest that these cells emerge by differentiation from endothelium of the optic choroidal vascular plexus. Our findings provide the first report of a perivascular cell population in the brain derived from vascular endothelium.
