6533b7d9fe1ef96bd126ca6e

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Ex Vivo Retinal Explant Cultures to Study Angiogenic Responses

Suphansa SawamiphakSuphansa SawamiphakIoanna BethaniAmparo Acker-palmerAmparo Acker-palmerMathias Ritter

subject

RetinaAngiogenesisContext (language use)StimulationBiologyCell biologyVascular endothelial growth factorchemistry.chemical_compoundmedicine.anatomical_structurechemistrymedicineFilopodiaGanglion cell layerEx vivo

description

The mouse retina has long been regarded as an easily accessible and advantageous system to investigate important questions of developmental angiogenesis. The protocol presented here profits from the suitability of the mouse retina as experimental model and describes an ex vivo culture technique of mouse retina explants that allows the quantitative assessment of angiogenic responses to pharmacological manipulations. The technique involves the extraction of the retina from the intact eye, the immediate flat mounting of the tissue on a hydrophilic membrane and the acute stimulation or inhibition of angiogenic processes of the developing vessels in their physiological context ex vivo. The number of filopodia structures found at the growing front of the vascular plexus serves as a quantitative readout. This method offers an easily manageable and highly reproducible way to elucidate the complex molecular mechanisms that underlie tip cell function and guidance during the highly orchestrated process of angiogenic sprouting.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4581-0_10