Barium-contrast x-ray angiograms, to demonstrate gross variability in vasculature among sham (8wks), 3 wks, 8 wks and MMP-9KO (at 8 wks). In vivo hearts were perfused with Barium sulfate solution and x-ray imaging was taken with KODAK MM4000 in both in whole body and in isolated hearts. The bar diagrams depicted quantified intensity of the images from randomly chosen areas of same size, with Image-J software. The data presented mean±SE, *p<0.05 vs sham; **p<0.01 vs 3 wks; ***, compared with 8wks. n=5 animals per group.