Figure 5.

Deletion of VEGF normalizes persistent hyaloid vessels in neuronal VEGFR2 knockout mice. (A) Quantitative PCR analysis for retinal tissues at P6 (n = 4). (B) Representative immunoblots and quantification in three independent experiments. (C–O) Whole-mount staining of hyaloid vessels at P6 and quantification (n = 4). Spontaneous endothelial apoptosis detected in control mice (arrowheads in K) is greatly reduced in Vegfr2^Δneuro mice and is recovered in Vegfr2;Vegfa^Δneuro mice (arrowheads in M). (P) Schematic diagram depicting the transition of ocular circulatory systems. Bars: (C–G) 500 µm; (H–J) 200 µm; (K–M) 50 µm. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; two-tailed Student’s t tests. Representative confocal images from four independent experiments (four mice per group) are shown. Data are represented as mean ± SD. Cont, control;­ ECs, endothelial cells.