FIG. 7.

Density of blood vessels and SMA staining at the implant site. Transplantation of Del-1 HUVEC (black bars) led to a slightly higher number of donor-derived blood vessels (GFP⁺; A), as well as total number of blood vessels (donor+host, CD31⁺; B) and SMA staining (C) compared with eGFP HUVEC (patterned bars). The number of blood vessels remained relatively constant over time; the differences were small. All vessels (with defined lumen) were counted and normalized to the area occupied by the implant on the whole histological section. The Aperio ImageScope Positive Pixel Count Algorithm was used for SMA staining. Graphs show average±SEM; N=4; ANOVA with LSD post hoc and p<0.05 (*) considered significant.