Carcinoembryonic antigen–related cell adhesion molecule 1 modulates vascular remodeling in vitro and in vivo
J. Clin. Invest. Andrea Kristina Horst, et al. 116:1596 doi:10.1172/JCI24340 [Go to this article.]

Figure 3
Aortic ring assays of CEACAM1^endo+ and Ceacam1^–/– mice. (A) Aortic ring assays of Ceacam1^–/– mice, CEACAM1^endo+ transgenic animals, and their WT littermates. Aortas were cut into 1-mm-thick rings, implanted into Matrigel, and allowed to grow for 10 days. Images were taken on day 8, and endothelial cell tube formation and tubular branching into capillary-like networks were compared. In Ceacam1^–/– mice, the capillary network exhibited lower complexity compared with the branched pseudovascular trees in CEACAM1^endo+ mice, FVB/N WT, and C57BL/6 WT mice. Arrows show the lack of connection among neighboring protrusions. Magnification, ×100, ×200 (insets). (B and C) Aortic ring assays were performed from at least 6 CEACAM1^endo+ and WT littermates, and the overall length of endothelial cell sprouts (B) and the overall number of endothelial cell sprouts emerging from the aortic ring (C) were determined. The invasion length of capillary tubes formed by CEACAM1^endo+ significantly exceeded that of their WT littermates on days 4, 6, and 8. Significant differences in numbers of endothelial cell tubes were obtained on day 4 of the assay. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01. (D and E) Aortic ring assays were performed from at least 6 Ceacam1^–/– and WT littermates, and the number of endothelial cell sprouts per aortic ring (D) and the overall length of capillary protrusions in aortic explants (E) were determined. The number of endothelial protrusions per aortic ring in Ceacam1^–/– mice was significantly different compared with WT mice on days 4, 6, and 8. No significant differences in the length of the endothelial pseudotubes were detected.