Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, MAHSC, University of Manchester, St. Mary's Hospital, Manchester, UK.
Cells Tissues Organs. 2011;194(1):76-84. doi: 10.1159/000322394. Epub 2010 Dec 29.
The pericyte is a multifunctional cell closely associated with endothelial cells and may play a role in angiogenesis and vessel stabilisation. Re-examination of over 1,100 micrographs from archival material used to investigate ultrastructural changes in placental development and pathology has identified previously undescribed structures associated with the pericyte of the human placental terminal villus. These structures take the form of outgrowths from the main body of the cell, with a narrow neck rich in cytoplasmic filaments, terminating in swollen tips which appear to bleb off the pericyte and form electron lucent stromal vesicles. Semi-quantitative analysis indicated that these features are present in some placentae from normal, term pregnancies but are increasingly found where capillaries show abnormalities such as a failure to form sinusoids, as in pregnancies complicated by diabetes, postmaturity, rhesus incompatibility and pre-eclampsia. This blebbing is compared with similar phenomena associated with apoptosis and zeiosis and it is suggested that it may contribute to fluid homeostasis where normal mechanisms are impaired by thickening or damage to endothelial cells.
周细胞是一种多功能细胞，与内皮细胞密切相关，可能在血管生成和血管稳定中发挥作用。对用于研究胎盘发育和病理学超微结构变化的档案材料中的 1100 多张显微镜照片进行重新检查，发现了与人类胎盘终末绒毛周细胞相关的以前未描述的结构。这些结构呈细胞主体的突起形式，颈部狭窄，富含细胞质丝，末端为肿胀的尖端，似乎从周细胞上起泡并形成电子透明的基质小泡。半定量分析表明，这些特征存在于一些正常足月妊娠的胎盘，但在毛细血管出现异常的情况下，如未能形成窦状隙的情况下，这些特征越来越明显，如糖尿病、过期妊娠、Rh 不相容和子痫前期等妊娠并发症。这种起泡现象与与细胞凋亡和细胞肿胀相关的类似现象进行了比较，并提出它可能有助于流体动态平衡，在这种情况下，内皮细胞的增厚或损伤会破坏正常机制。
