FIG. 3.

Representative epifluorescent images of rat MLV isolated from 9-mo (A) and 24-mo (B) Fischer rats. Smooth muscle actin is stained in orange to indicate lymphatic muscle cells. Images demonstrate existence of the longitudinally oriented muscle cells that connect two adjacent lymphangions over of the zone with comparatively low investiture of the lymphatic muscle cells. At each presented image of MLV, Δ symbol points to example of the single longitudinally oriented muscle cell. Scale bar represents 100 μm and applies to all images.