Lyl1-deficiency increases angiogenic potential of mice aortic explant. (A) Photomicrographs show the angiogenic response of a 5-day culture collagen-embedded thoracic aorta ring explants from Δ^Lyl1/Δ^Lyl1 and wild-type mice. Note the outgrowth of scattered myelofibroblast cells (α-SMA-positive cells, supplemental Figure 6) and endothelial tubules (CD31-positive cells, supplemental Figure 6) in both genotypes. (B) Images of microvessel outgrowth from aortic explants were captured at day 5 of culture with a Canon Powershot A650 digital camera mounted on an inverted phase contrast Axiovert25 microscope (Zeiss). The angiogenic response was determined for each individual aortic ring explant by quantifying the number of intersections of growing microvessels (left) and by measuring the total area occupied by the newly formed microvessels (right). Each point represents data for distinct fragment of aorta: WT (20 rings/4 mice) Δ^Lyl1/Δ^Lyl1 (30 rings/6 mice). The mean is represented as a black bar on this scatter plot. *P < .05.