Brain mesenchymal stem cells: The other stem cells of the brain?

Figure 1 Pericyte immunophenotyping. Pericytes express antigens allowing their identification. However, there is currently no specific marker to identify them. Therefore, to distinguish pericytes from other cell types, both positive and negative markers are used. For example, pericytes are known to be positive for platelet-derived growth factor receptor β (PDGFR-β)/CD140b (A), Alanine aminopeptidase N/CD13 (B), and for the stem cell protein nestin (C). Pericytes are also negative for VE-Cad/CD144 (D) that is detected in human brain endothelial cells (E). Specific antigenic labeling is in green or red and nuclei are 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole stained (blue).