Cover: Vascular development in embryonic day 13.5 mouse lungs. (Left panel) Whole-mount X-gal-stained flk.LacZ lung shows further branching of proximal arteries with ongoing development of a more extensive vascular plexus peripherally. Four well-formed pulmonary veins were seen returning from the lung lobes and formed a well-defined pulmonary venous confluence (asterisk). (RPA = right pulmonary artery; LPA = left pulmonary artery.) (Middle panel) Microscopic section showing lengthening of epithelial tubes with -gal-expressing endothelial cells, forming intercellular connections and lacunae (Lac) between and parallel to the airway tubes. (Right panel) Higher-power view showing endothelial cell patterns in relation to the airway epithelium and to each other. Cells appear to make end-to-end connections to establish lumens parallel to the axes of the airways. For more information, see article by Schachtner and colleagues 157.
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