Yiwen Li et al.
Nature protocols, 3(11), 1703-1708 (2008-10-11)
We describe a protocol to rapidly and reliably visualize blood vessels in experimental animals. Blood vessels are directly labeled by cardiac perfusion using a specially formulated aqueous solution containing 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI), a lipophilic carbocyanine dye, which incorporates into endothelial