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. 2015 Jul 23;10(7):e0133880. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133880

Fig 4. Characterization of vascular morphological properties and comparison of EC monocultures and EC-pericyte co-cultures.

Fig 4

(A) The 3D confocal image sectioned along the lines that divide the width of ROI into three equal parts. Cross sectional view of each portion clearly shows lumen formation of the blood vessel network (white arrows). (B) Vessel widths were measured along the sectioned lines. When two cells were cultured together, vessel width decreased significantly. The width of the pericyte-covered vessel increased again at the point region. (C, D) The numbers of junctions and branches increased significantly under co-culture conditions. The protective effect of pericytes from vessel dilation was significant when compared with the EC-only vessel at day 7 (E) and the pericyte-covered vessel at day 11 (F). CD31 (red) shows staining of ECs and α-SMA (green) shows staining of pericytes. Scale bar, 200 μm (A, B) or 100 μm (E, F) (n = 28 for EC monocultures, n = 26 for EC-pericyte co-cultures. *** p < 0.001).