Fig 1.
NSG mouse with chamber implantation.
(a) NSG mouse equipped with a dorsal skinfold chamber (DSC) or (b) a femur window (FW) and observation window (arrow), showing that the microcirculation of the striated muscle and bone can be analyzed by intravital fluorescence microscopy. (scale bars a-b = 7 mm).
Fig 2.
Intravital fluorescence microscopy (IVM) images.
(a) IVM of microvessels in the dorsal skinfold chamber (1.25× objective) and in the femur window (c) (2.5× objective) after contrast enhancement by 0.1 ml of 5% FITC-labeled dextran 150.000 i.v. (b;d) Stereo microscopy images of microvessels in the dorsal skinfold chamber (b) and in the femur window (d). (e;f) Intravital fluorescence microscopy of microvessels in the dorsal skinfold chamber (e) and microvessels in the femur window (f) (20× objective) by blue light epi-illumination. (scale bars a-b = 680 μm, c-d = 500 μm, e-f = 70 μm).
Table 1.
Microcirculatory parameters in bone and striated muscle tissue over the observation period.
Fig 3.
Microvascular parameters in the femur window group (dark gray bars) compared to the parameters in the dorsal skinfold chamber (light gray bars).
All values are means ± SEM. Asterisks indicate p-values < 0.05. Abbreviations: Vmean, centerline velocity; BFR, blood perfusion rate; VD, vessel density; TPR, tissue perfusion rate; PERM, effective vascular permeability.