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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Feb 25.
Published in final edited form as: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012 Jan 17;59(3):256–264. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2011.10.858

Figure 4. Endothelial Cells Populate Injected Platelet Gel In Vivo and Contribute to De Novo Angiogenesis.

Figure 4

Animals were sacrificed at days 3 and 7, and heart cryosections were stained with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) for nuclei and von Willebrand factor (vWF) for endothelial cells. (A) Representative confocal microscopic images. The infarct area could be identified by the paucity of endothelial cells but with infiltration by nuclei belonging to inflammatory cells (marked as “MI”). Platelet gel exhibited Texas Red fluorescence (marked as “Gel”). (B) High-magnification image of the area in the white box in A, showing the penetration of endothelial cells into the platelet gel. Bars = 100 um. (C, D) Confocal microscopy images showing blood vessel-like structures (white arrows) in the platelet gel 7 days after injection into the injured myocardium. Bars = 20 um. (E) Quantitation of endothelial cells residing in the platelet gel at day 3 and day 7, respectively. (F) Quantitation of endothelial cells in the infarct area from gel- or control-treated hearts on day 7 after treatment. *p < 0.05 when compared to control. POS = positive.