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Fig. 1. Tie2-Cre conditional
v mutants do not develop cerebral vascular
defects. (A-F)
v integrin is not detected on cerebral endothelial cells
or pericytes. Horizontal sections through the diencephalon of an E13.5
v+/- embryo labeled with pre-absorbed anti-
v
antiserum (A,D), anti-PECAM (B), or anti-smooth muscle
-actin
(SM
A) (E).
v protein localizes to neuroepithelial processes
(A,D). (C,F) Merged images: arrows indicate close juxtaposition between
v-positive neuroepithelial processes with endothelial cells (C) and
pericytes (F). Boxed areas are shown as higher magnification insets. (G)
Generation of the conditional
v mutant allele in endothelial cells.
Tie2-Cre-mediated recombination deletes exon four, resulting in a conditional
v-null allele (lower panel). Arrows indicate PCR primers for
genotyping. (H) Cre-mediated recombination monitored by PCR using DNA isolated
from PECAM/Flk1-positive brain endothelial cells (EC), or PECAM/Flk1-negative
cells (C). In brain endothelial cells, there is a reduction in the intensity
of the 350 bp band owing to recombination of the
v-flox allele. We
confirmed deletion of exon four using a primer pair that detects the deleted
v-flox cassette (data not shown). (I-L) Brains dissected from P5
neonates. No grossly obvious cerebral vascular defects are present in control
(I) or mutant (K). Hematoxylin and Eosin-stained coronal sections from control
(J) and mutant (L) brains revealed no obvious microscopic neural or vascular
defects.