Figure 3

Hoxc11- and Hoxa3-lacZ expression patterns in blood vessel sections of 6 wk old transgenic mice. (A, B) Cross sections of the distal femoral artery (panel A) and femoral vein (B) show restriction of Hoxc11-lacZ expression in subsets of VSMCs in arterial and venous vessel walls as indicated by X-Gal staining (blue). (C-F) Cross sections of X-Gal-stained iliac artery (C), descending thoracic aorta (D), intercostal artery (E), and common carotid artery (F) of Hoxa3-lacZ transgenic mice indicate strong β-gal expression (blue) in the VSMCs of the vessel walls, whereas X-Gal staining in the flattened endothelial cells lining the intimal laminae is difficult to discern. adv: adventitia eem: external elastic membrane, iem: internal elastic membrane, in: intima, m: media. Space bars: 25 μm in all panels.