Figure 5
From: VEGF expression by mesenchymal stem cells contributes to angiogenesis in pancreatic carcinoma
Recruitment of MSC in mice by intravital microscopy reveals attachment to normal and tumour blood vessels. Mice with MIA-PaCa-2 orthotopic pancreatic cancer xenografts were injected with lentiviral GFP-transduced MSC (four consecutive injections of 105 MSC per 0.2 ml normal saline in time intervals of about 15 min) into the carotid artery. Photographs of circulating MSC in (A) cremaster muscle and (B) tumour vessels were taken and analysed as described in Materials and methods. Circulating (white arrow) and attached (white asterisk) green fluorescent MSC appeared during the first minute after injection. Red arrows indicate the direction of flow. a, artery; v, venule. Pictures are freezed images from video sequences provided in the supplement. (C) Immunofluorescence staining of a GFP-expressing MSC incorporated in vWF-positive endothelial cells of a vessels was detected in an orthotopic pancreatic xenograft of nude mice, which have been injected with MSC as described in Figure 4.
