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Monday, 1 September 2008 - European Heart Journal

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274 New vessels and changed vessels: angiogenesis and vascular remodelling<br />

Notch ligand Delta-like (Dll) 4 regulates arterial differentiation in embryonic development,<br />

but the key ligand in mature CA remains elusive. Here we identify the<br />

Notch ligand Dll1 as an essential regulator of postnatal coronary arteriogenesis,<br />

which is protective after myocardial infarction.<br />

Methods and Results: To characterize expression and role of Dll1 in adult hearts<br />

we analyzed heterozygous Dll1-lacZ/+ reporter mice, in which one allele of Dll1<br />

has been replaced by lacZ. X-gal staining revealed selective Dll1 expression in<br />

the endocardium and in endothelium of coronary arteries (CA), but not in veins or<br />

capillaries. Interestingly, hearts from Dll1 heterozygous mice were smaller (heart<br />

weight (g)/femur length (cm), wt: 0.13±0.02 vs. het: 0.09±0.02, n=10, p20 um) but an increased number of<br />

small arterioles

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