PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - FUMINARI UEHARA AU - YASUNORI TOME AU - JOSE REYNOSO AU - SUMIYUKI MII AU - SHUYA YANO AU - SHINJI MIWA AU - MICHAEL BOUVET AU - HIROKI MAEHARA AU - FUMINORI KANAYA AU - ABDOOL R. MOOSSA AU - ROBERT M. HOFFMAN TI - Color-coded Imaging of Spontaneous Vessel Anastomosis <em>In Vivo</em> DP - 2013 Aug 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 3041--3045 VI - 33 IP - 8 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/33/8/3041.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/33/8/3041.full SO - Anticancer Res2013 Aug 01; 33 AB - Vessel anastomosis is important in tumor angiogenesis as well as for vascularization therapy for ischemia and other diseases. We report here the development of a color-coded imaging model that can visualize the anastomosis between blood vessels of red fluorescent protein (RFP)-expressing vessels in vascularized Gelfoam® previously transplanted into RFP transgenic mice and then re-transplanted into nestin-driven green fluorescent protein (ND-GFP) mice where nascent blood vessels express GFP. Gelfoam® was initially transplanted subcutaneously in the flank of transgenic RFP nude mice. Skin flaps were made at 14 days after transplantation of Gelfoam® to allow observation of vascularization of the Gelfoam® using confocal fluorescence imaging. The implanted Gelfoam® became highly vascularized with RFP vessels. Fourteen days after transplantation into RFP transgenic nude mice, the Gelfoam® was removed and re-transplanted into the subcutis on the flank of ND-GFP transgenic nude mice in which nascent blood vessels express GFP. Skin flaps were made and anastomosis between the GFP-expressing nascent blood vessels of ND-GFP transgenic nude mice and RFP blood vessels in the Gelfoam® was imaged 14 and 21 days after re-transplantation. The results presented in this report indicate a possible mechanism for tumor angiogenesis and suggest a new paradigm of therapeutic revascularization of ischemic organs requiring new blood vessels and in other diseases.