FIG. 2.

Duct cells induce neogenesis of blood vessels in rat aortic ring assay. Isolated rat aortic rings were incubated for 10 days in control medium (Ctrl) or medium with recombinant human IL-8 (1 ng/ml), recombinant human VEGF-A₁₆₅ (20 ng/ml), a combination of both, or with 24-h duct cell–conditioned medium (DuC). At day 10, rings were photographed. Total vessel numbers were counted and total vessel lengths were measured as described in research design and methods. A: Values are the average of three aortic rings per condition ± SE. P value vs. carrier alone (Ctrl); *P ≤ 0.05; #P ≤ 0.001. Results come from at least three independent experiments. Representative photographs of each condition are shown in B.