FIGURE 6.

Phase‐contrast images of aortic (Ao; top 3 lines) and pulmonary artery (PA; bottom 3 lines) rings. Aortas and pulmonary arteries were dissected from rats 4 weeks after treatments to produce CPE. Rings were embedded in Geltrex and over‐laid with basal M1266 medium plus glutamine, antibiotic‐antimycotic, and 0.1% FBS but lacking growth factors (EGF, VEGF). After 10 days rings were labeled with MTT to enhance visibility of sprouts and fixed with 2% formaldehyde. Representative images are shown for five rats each from groups of 8–10 CPE rats treated with either cinaciguat (CINA), RIO, or DMSO. Aortas and PAs were obtained from the same rat in each treatment group