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Brain perivascular macrophages: characterization and functional roles in health and disease

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Abstract

Perivascular macrophages (PVM) are a distinct population of resident brain macrophages characterized by a close association with the cerebral vasculature. PVM migrate from the yolk sac into the brain early in development and, like microglia, are likely to be a self-renewing cell population that, in the normal state, is not replenished by circulating monocytes. Increasing evidence implicates PVM in several disease processes, ranging from brain infections and immune activation to regulation of the hypothalamic-adrenal axis and neurovascular-neurocognitive dysfunction in the setting of hypertension, Alzheimer disease pathology, or obesity. These effects involve crosstalk between PVM and cerebral endothelial cells, interaction with circulating immune cells, and/or production of reactive oxygen species. Overall, the available evidence supports the idea that PVM are a key component of the brain-resident immune system with broad implications for the pathogenesis of major brain diseases. A better understanding of the biology and pathobiology of PVM may lead to new insights and therapeutic strategies for a wide variety of brain diseases.

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  1. Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, 407 E61st Street, New York, NY, USA

    Giuseppe Faraco, Laibaik Park, Josef Anrather & Costantino Iadecola

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  1. Giuseppe Faraco
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  2. Laibaik Park
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Faraco or Costantino Iadecola.

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This work was supported by the following grants: 15SDG22760007 (GF), R01 NS37853, R37 NS89323, and R01 NS100441. Support from the Feil Family Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.

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Faraco, G., Park, L., Anrather, J. et al. Brain perivascular macrophages: characterization and functional roles in health and disease. J Mol Med 95, 1143–1152 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00109-017-1573-x

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