An in vivo assay to test blood vessel permeability

M Radu, J Chernoff - JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments), 2013 - jove.com
This method is based on the intravenous injection of Evans Blue in mice as the test animal
model. Evans blue is a dye that binds albumin. Under physiologic conditions the
endothelium is impermeable to albumin, so Evans blue bound albumin remains restricted
within blood vessels. In pathologic conditions that promote increased vascular permeability
endothelial cells partially lose their close contacts and the endothelium becomes permeable
to small proteins such as albumin. This condition allows for extravasation of Evans Blue in …