Graft of embryonic chick pancreas under SCID mouse kidney capsule.

<p>At 14 dpi embryonic chick pancreas (A) was grafted under the kidney capsule of a normoglycaemic SCID mouse and analyzed 2 weeks post-transplantation (B). At that time, hematoxylin-eosin coloration (C) enabled us to observe many vessels filled with erythrocytes (arrow). Immunohistochemistry for nestin (D) and <i>in situ</i> hybridization for mouse VEGFR2 probe (E) indicated the murine origin of endothelial cells in the pancreatic graft. In hyperglycaemic conditions (F–I), dark spots were present on the top of the pancreatic grafts (F). Vascularization was disorganized with large blood-fill spaces (G, arrow) associated with vessel discontinuities (H, insert). Morphometry analyses of erythrocytes staining (G), nestin immunohistochemistry (H) and mouse VEGFR2 <i>in situ</i> hybridization (I) showed a decreased number of endothelial cells (J, K and L). Student <i>t-</i>test *p<0.05, n = 4–6.