Fig. 5

Neovascularization in ischemic striatum. Density (a) and mean caliber (b) of Evans blue-filled vessels were determined in ischemic striatum (ipsi) and corresponding area of contralateral hemisphere (contra) using tiled-field mapping and computer-assisted image analysis. Representative examples of Evans blue tiled-field images at low- (c) and high-power magnification (d). Note significant inducing effect of ischemia, but not of genotype, on vessel density and mean vessel caliber in wildtype mice and in VEC^+/- mice at four weeks after 30 min MCAo/reperfusion. The experiments depicted here as well as in Figs. 4 and 6a were conducted in the same animals. Briefly, of 10 VEC^+/+ and 16 VEC^+/- mice entered into the experiment, 2 VEC^+/+ and 5 VEC^+/- mice died after MCAo. One further VEC^+/+ mouse died during preparation for blood flow experiments. Finally, the ipsilateral side of the brain of one further VEC^+/- mouse sustained substantial damage during cryostat sectioning, so this animal could also not be included in this analysis. N = 7 VEC^+/+ and n = 10 VEC^+/- animals per group. Two-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keul’s post hoc test. *p < 0.05 relative to contralateral (i.e. non-ischemic) striatum within each genotype. Scale bar in (c) 1 mm (both images), scale bar in (d) 200 μm (all four images)