Mouse models were used to determine whether Chlamydia pneumoniae establishes chronic infection of the aorta and contributes to atherogenesis. Persistent infection of the aorta occurred in 11 of 31 hyperlipidemic apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE(-/-)) mice but not in C57BL/6J mice fed a normal diet after a single inoculation and in both models following repeated inoculation with C. pneumoniae. R...

The first definitive/adult-type hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in the mouse aorta-gonad-mesonephros region emerge between embryonic days 10.5 and 11.5. The discovery of clusters of hematopoietic cells on the ventral luminal surface of the dorsal aorta in various vertebrate species has led to speculation that the floor of the dorsal aorta may play an essential role for the development of the de...

We characterized the thoracic aorta from the C57BL/6J mouse, a strain used commonly in the generation of genetically altered mice, in response to vasoactive substances. Strips of aorta were mounted in tissue baths for measurement of isometric contractile force. Cumulative concentration-response curves to agonists were generated to observe contraction, or relaxation in tissues contracted with ph...

Enhanced arginase (ARG) activity has been identified as a factor that reduces nitric oxide production and impairs endothelial function in vascular pathologies. Using a gene deletion model, we investigated involvement of arginase isoforms arginase 1 and 2 (ARG1 and ARG2) in hypertension and endothelial dysfunction in a mineralocorticoid-salt mouse model. Hypertension was induced in wild type (WT...

Hematopoietic cell generation in the midgestation mouse embryo occurs through the natural transdifferentiation of temporally and spatially restricted set of hemogenic endothelial cells. These cells take on hematopoietic fate in the aorta, vitelline and umbilical arteries and appear as hematopoietic cell clusters that emerge from the vascular wall. Genetic and live imaging data have supported th...

M. Lalli, Jane, Shunichi Shimizu, Roy L. Sutliff, Evangelia G. Kranias, and Richard J. Paul. [Ca]i homeostasis and cyclic nucleotide relaxation in aorta of phospholamban-deficient mice. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 46): H963–H970, 1999.—Phospholamban (PLB), a protein localized in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), inhibits the SR Ca21-ATPase; phosphorylation of PLB relieves this inhi...

Over the last 2 decades, nonlinear imaging methods such as multiharmonic imaging microscopy (MHIM) have become powerful approaches for the label-free visualization of biological structures. Multiharmonic signals are generated when an intense electromagnetic field propagates through a sample that either has a specific molecular orientation or exhibits certain physical properties. It can provide ...