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Figure 3 | BMC Developmental Biology

Figure 3

From: Notch signaling regulates remodeling and vessel diameter in the extraembryonic yolk sac

Figure 3

Defects in vessel diameter in EC-N1ICD and EC-Rbpj-KO embryos. Histological sections (lateral) of PECAM1 and NFR-stained E9.5 yolk sac (A, B) and embryos (C, D) at the level of the heart. The wild type yolk sac contained both large and small caliber vessels (A, arrowheads). The EC-N1ICD yolk sacs contained primarily large caliber vessels (B, arrowheads), however they were lumenized. The dorsal aortae of the EC-N1ICD embryos (D, asterisk) were approximately twice the area of wild type dorsal aortae (C, asterisk). (E) Distribution of vessel area in the yolk sac of wild type and EC-N1ICD embryos. Both wild type and EC-N1ICD embryos had an array of differently sized vessels. However, wild type yolk sac had a majority of vessels with an area of 0-4000 μm2, while EC-N1ICD contained many vessels with an area of 30000 μm2 or greater. (F, G) Histological sections of E9.5 dorsal aorta stained with an antibody to smooth muscle α-actin. The dorsal aortae of the wild type contain SMA-positive cells (F), while the EC-N1ICD dorsal aortae are SMA-negative. (H-J) Histological sections of the placental vasculature in wild type (H), EC-N1ICD (I), and EC-Rbpj-KO (J) embryos. Blood vessels containing nucleated erythrocytes in EC-N1ICD placenta (I, arrow) were of larger caliber than blood vessels in wild type placenta (H, arrow). In both, the fetal vasculature invaded into the maternal portion of the placenta. The vessels of the EC-Rbpj-KO placenta (J, arrow) were small in size and had not invaded into the labyrinthine layer. Asterisk (H-J), maternal blood. Scale bars are 100 μm (A-D).

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