Figure 1. CdGAP^−/− mice exhibit incompletely penetrant embryonic lethality, edema, and vascular defects.

(a) Breeding table from heterozygous intercrosses shows that CdGAP^−/− mice were not born at the expected Mendelian ratio, exhibiting 44% embryonic/perinatal lethality. Numbers in parentheses indicate the numbers of embryos (E15.5) or born mice (P21) (P = 6,4429E-06 (χ² test)). (b) At E.15.5, CdGAP^−/− whole embryos displayed vascular defects with subcutaneous edema (black asterisks), various degrees of subcutaneous hemorrhages (white asterisks), and a pale liver (white arrowhead) compared to control CdGAP^fl/fl embryos. (c) Percentage of control CdGAP^fl/fl, heterozygous CdGAP^fl/−, and CdGAP^−/− embryos showing hypovascularization, vascular defects and edema at E15.5. Numbers in parentheses indicate the numbers of embryos. (d,e) H&E stainings of transverse sections of E15.5 CdGAP^fl/fl and CdGAP^−/− embryos. Note edema (d) and infiltrating red blood cells (e) in subcutaneous regions of CdGAP^−/− embryos compared to control. Representative images of at least 3 embryos per genotype. Scale bars, 200 μm (d) and 50 μm (e). (f) Brains dissected from E15.5 CdGAP^fl/fl and CdGAP^−/− embryos. Note the hypovascularized, pale meninges of the CdGAP^−/− mice.