Fig. 5. LTBP4 induces angiogenesis for kidney repair in mice subjected to unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO).

Tubulointerstitial fibrosis was induced by UUO for 5 days in wild-type (WT) and Ltbp4 knockout (Ltbp4S−/−) mice. A Representative histological images with Masson’s trichrome and immunofluorescence staining of kidneys for CD31 after UUO. Scale bars, 100 μm. B Quantitative results of vessels per HPF in the mouse kidneys. C Protein expression of VEGF and CD31 in the kidneys of mice with UUO, as detected by using immunoblotting. GAPDH served as an internal control. D, E Densitometric analyses of immunoblot images for VEGF (D) and CD31 (E) are shown. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM for each group (n = 3). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Results representative of three independent experiments performed in triplicate.