Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Cell Biol. 2005 Aug 21;7(9):870–879. doi: 10.1038/ncb1288

Figure 6.

Figure 6

PDGFRβ+ cells support vascular tube stability and survival. (a, b) Human microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs) were labelled with a green fluorescent vital dye and cultured in a 3D Matrigel in the absence (a) or presence (b) of tumour-isolated PDGFRβ+ cells (pre-labelled in red). Vessel assembly occurred quickly in both situations, but bare endothelial tubes started to deteriorate after 2 days in culture resulting in endothelial cell clumps after 7 days (a). In contrast, PDGFRβ+ cell-covered tubes (white arrowheads) remained intact even after 7 days (b). (c) Quantitative RT–PCR analysis of VEGF from total RNA of tumour-isolated PDGFRβ+ cells, NG2+ cells and from total Rip1Tag2 tumours (RT2). VEGF transcription levels were normalized to levels of L19. VEGF transcription levels are highly enriched in PDGFRβ+ cells and NG2+ pericytes compared with VEGF levels in Rip1Tag2 tumours. Scale bars, 12.6 mm.