Figure 4.

Examination of clotting characteristics and coagulation parameters from a DIC rodent model. (A) Clot formation from control and DIC animals treated with saline, FSNs, tPA-FSNs, or tPA-CS-IgG particles photographed using confocal microscopy (top) and cryoSEM (bottom). A Zeiss Laser Scanning Microscope (LSM 710, Zeiss Inc., White Plains, NY) was used for confocal images. A C-Apochromat 1.2W 63× objective lens was used for 1.89-μm z-stack images, which were analyzed by using ImageJ for making 8-bit 3D projections. (B) Fiber density was quantified by determining the ratio of black (fiber) over white (background) pixels in each binary image (average of 3 images per animal) (n = 5 for all groups). Clot structure was also assessed by using cryoSEM (JEOL 7600F) with a Gatan Alto Cryo-transfer system. Magnification 2500× for all images. (C-D) Quantification was performed by using a DiameterJ plugin for ImageJ software to measure percent porosity (C) and intersection density (D) using cryoSEM images (2 or 3 images per animal; n = 6 control animals; 5 animals for all DIC groups). D-dimer (E) and fibrinogen (F) from plasma samples taken from control animals (n = 6) and DIC animals (n = 4 for DIC + FSN and DIC + tPA-FSN group fibrinogen levels; n = 5 for all other groups). (G) Platelet count was measured for control animals (n = 6) and DIC animals (n = 5 for all groups). All data are presented as average ± standard deviation. Data sets were analyzed via a 1-way ANOVA with a Tukey’s post hoc test using a 95% confidence interval. *P < .05; **P < .01; ***P < .001; ****P < .0001.