FIG. 10.

Increased residual shear strain causes the abdominal aorta and left carotid artery of Eln+/- mice to change shape upon excision. Small carbon particles were placed vertically along the length of each vessel in vivo to measure the difference between in vivo and ex vivo length and to document residual shear. Ex vivo, the particles shift to the right along the vessel length, indicating residual shear. The rightward shift is small in wild-type (WT) vessels and becomes more pronounced in Eln+/- vessels. The small residual shear in WT vessels causes only slight curvature in the ex vivo vessel. The increased residual shear in Eln+/- vessels causes either sharp changes in curvature (abdominal aorta) or complete loops (carotid artery) in the ex vivo vessel. Scale bar = 1 mm. [Modified from Wagenseil et al. (290).]