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. 2022 Feb 7;16:769347. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2022.769347

Figure 8.

Figure 8

Cerebral vasculature structures are damaged by prostacyclin overexpression in APdE9/CP-Tg mice. Quantification of vascular structures, by collagen IV staining, in the cortex of 17–20-month-old NTg, CP-Tg, APdE9, and APdE9/CP-Tg mice. (A) 40 × 60 μm thick confocal image stacks of collagen IV-positive microvessels were used for vessel tracing analysis. Scale bar = 50 μm. (B) APdE9/CP-Tg mice had significantly fewer vessels compared to NTg or CP-Tg and APdE9 mice, while CP-Tg mice had significantly more. (C) APdE9/CP-Tg mice had significantly fewer number of vessel branches compared to NTg or CP-Tg and APdE9 mice, while CP-Tg mice had significantly more. (D) Branch length is significantly reduced in all models compared to NTg mice; CP-Tg mice show the least reduction in length while APdE9/CP-Tg mice show the greatest. (E,F) Cortical vessel cross-section and diameter were significantly smaller in all models compared to NTg mice with APdE9 mice exhibiting the greatest amount of smaller, constricted vessels. (G) Of the volume of vessels imaged for each genotype, NTg mice maintained the greatest fraction of vessels imaged while APdE9/CP-Tg mice contained the fewest. (B–G) All measures are a ratio of total vessel volume imaged by genotype and set to a normalized scale where control equals 1. *p < 0.05; #p < 0.05 compared to NTg, APdE9, and APdE9/CP-Tg mice. Bars are means ± SEM, n = 5 mice per group.