Figure 4. The angiogenic effect of microglial cells is cell type-specific.

(A–C) Mouse aortic ring explants were co-cultured in triplicate with microglial cells (B), mouse embryo fibroblasts (C) or medium only (A). Shown are representative phase contrast microscopy images of the aortic ring cultures at day five. (D) The number of vascular branches generated by the rings was determined and normalized for each series of four independent experiments with four animals. The mean relative number of branches for the 12 rings per condition is presented by the bar graph with standard errors of the means.