Miniaturized Assays of Angiogenesis In Vitro

Assays of angiogenesis in vitro provide insights into vascular development and are useful in studies of agents that modulate blood vessel formation. This chapter describes techniques to induce angiogenesis-like sprouting from aortic and microvascular explants cultured in 3-dimensional native collagen gels. The chapter focuses on explants derived from mice and use of a miniaturized format that permits efficient utilization of reagents, ease of processing, rapid analysis, and conventional imaging.