Pharmacological manipulation of blood and lymphatic vascularization in ex vivo-cultured mouse embryos.

Formation of new blood and lymphatic vessels is involved in many physiological and pathological processes, including organ and tumor growth, cancer cell metastasis, fluid drainage and lymphedema. Therefore, the ability to manipulate vascularization in a mammalian system is of particular interest to researchers. Here we describe a method for pharmacological manipulation of de novo and sprouting blood and lymphatic vascular development in ex vivo-cultured mouse embryos. The described protocol can also be used to evaluate the properties of pharmacological agents in growing mammalian tissues and to manipulate other developmental processes. The whole procedure, from embryo isolation to image quantification, takes 3-5 d, depending on the analysis and age of the embryos.