Fig. 1

Culture media alters pericyte phenotype and proliferation. Human brain pericytes were plated at a low density and allowed to proliferate in either DMEM/F12 with 10% FBS or Pericyte Medium. Brightfield imaging of pericyte morphology was performed 3 and 7 days post plating (a). Pericytes were then fixed and the nuclei stained with Hoechst. The average nuclei area (b) and the total cell count (c) were determined by automated image analysis. Five days after plating, 10 µM EdU was added to select wells for an additional 48 h. Cells were fixed and nuclei counterstained with Hoechst (d). The percentage of EdU positive cells was determined by automated image analysis (e). Data are displayed as mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. ***p < 0.001 versus DMEM/F12 cultured pericytes (Student’s t test). Scale bar = 50 µm