Identification of pericytes in the central nervous system by silver staining of the basal lamina

Vibratome sections obtained from perfusion-fixed rat brains were stained by means of silver impregnation and physical development according to Gallyas (1970). Small pieces of the cerebral cortex were postfixed with buffered osmium tetroxide solution and processed for electron microscopy to examine the localization of the silver deposit at the cellular level. The cell surfaces of pericytes and smooth muscle cells were completely outlined by silver grains. Endothelial cells and perivascular astrocytes, however, showed an asymmetric distribution of the silver deposit, i.e., the deposit was restricted to the abluminal endothelial surface and to the astrocytic membrane adjacent to the vessel wall, respectively. The method allowed a clear-cut distinction between perikarya of endothelial cells and pericytes as well as glial cells in perivascular position, even at the light-microscopic level.