Figure 15.

Exploded transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of a perfusion fixed control. lanthanum nitrate-stained post-capillary venule in cortical layer III of the frontal grey matter regions in a CD1 mouse model at seven-weeks of age. Note the marked electron-dense endothelial glycocalyx (ecGCx) on the luminal-apical brain endothelial cell (BEC). In this healthy control model, the ecGCx varies from ~2 to 3.5 μm in thickness. Note how the apical fronds of the ecGCx can readily interact with proteins of the circulating plasma. This staining technique has now been found to be both reliable and reproducible by author and others [52,57,58]. Note the original image in the lower-right insert with scale bar = 5 μm. Scale bar = 500 nm utilized to measure the ecGCx thickness in the exploded image.