Vessel Painting Technique for Visualizing the Cerebral Vascular Architecture of the Mouse
- 1 January 2014
- book chapter
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Methods in Molecular Biology
- Vol. 1135, 127-138
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0320-7_12
Abstract
Vessel painting is a simple, cost-effective way to visualize the vascular architecture of the mouse brain and other organs. DiI is a lipophilic carbocyanine dye that binds to lipid membranes and is commonly used for tract tracing in the brain. After perfusion with PBS to remove the blood, perfusion with a special DiI solution allows direct staining of the vasculature. This step is followed by perfusion fixation and removal of the brain from the skull. Pial vessels can be directly imaged using a standard fluorescent microscope. To acquire images of the whole brain, a montage of images at different focal planes is assembled. Basic cerebral vascular anatomy is reviewed in the context of vessel painting, and examples are presented showing enhanced collateralization in a mouse model of metabolic syndrome. Vessel painting offers a cost-effective and efficient alternative to more complex approaches such as corrosion casting.Keywords
This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit:
- Optical Histology: A Method to Visualize Microvasculature in Thick Tissue Sections of Mouse BrainPLOS ONE, 2013
- NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysisNature Methods, 2012
- A Protocol for Characterizing the Impact of Collateral Flow after Distal Middle Cerebral Artery OcclusionTranslational Stroke Research, 2010
- Formation and maturation of the native cerebral collateral circulationJournal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, 2010
- Vascular Protection in Diabetic Stroke: Role of Matrix Metalloprotease-Dependent Vascular RemodelingJournal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 2010
- Direct labeling and visualization of blood vessels with lipophilic carbocyanine dye DiINature Protocols, 2008
- Vessel painting of the microcirculation using fluorescent lipophilic tracersMicrovascular Research, 2005
- Genetic Analysis of a New Mouse Model for Non-Insulin-Dependent DiabetesGenomics, 2001