RT-PCR and Q-PCR of freshly FACS-sorted and cultured muscle EC reveals the expression of major endothelial markers, upregulation of certain adhesion markers in culture, and arterial, venular and lymphatic heterogeneity.

<p>A, RT-PCR results of freshly FACS-sorted and cultured EC indicates they maintain expression of common endothelial markers vWF, Flk-1 and Tie2 while lacking key myogenic markers Pax7, MSX 1, MyoD and Myf5. B, Q-RT-PCR of adhesion markers AC133, CXCR4, NCAM, and Syndecan 4 highlights significant increases of Syndecan 4 and NCAM expression after 50 days in culture whereas expression of AC133 decreases to baseline levels. C, RT-PCR analysis of arterial, venular, and lymphatic markers indicates sorted muscle EC comprise a hetergenous population of all three vascular origins that are maintained in culture. D, Q-RT-PCR of three specific arterial (Ephrin 2B), venular (EphB 4) and lymphatic (VEGFR3) markers confirms the maintenance of all three types of EC. Q-RT-PCR values are normalized to whole muscle from the same mouse sample. Error bars for this Q-RT-PCR are present but not clearly visible due to the standard deviations being <1.