Effect of sCD40L in a murine model of angiogenesis.

Murine sCD40L in Matrigel was injected subcutaneously into athymic nude mice. The site of injection was marked with indelible ink. Illustrated is a representative photograph of the exposed undersurface of the injection site after 7 days. (A) Site injected with heat-inactivated sCD40L. (B) Site injected with active sCD40L. The lower panels A and B represent the boxed areas of the skin viewed at higher magnification. Following injection of sCD40L, multiple tortuous vessels were found with bifurcations and trifurcations that are typical findings of active angiogenesis. Representative of 1 of 7 animals with similar results.