Focus on the vascular wall: Imaging of large arteries using two-photon microscopy

Blood vessels are part of a subtle regulatory system with differential properties along the vascular tree. Alterations in the vessel wall may lead to various diseases such as atherosclerosis. Current knowledge of vascular alterations is mostly based on histological studies of isolated samples that have lost viability. Functional properties of various compounds in the atherosclerotic vessel wall are still largely unknown. Better understanding of the functionality of the atherosclerotic arterial wall, and, thus, increased insight in (development of) atherosclerotic lesions requires studying of these properties in vivo or in viable arteries ex vivo. This talk focuses on imaging of the vessel wall of large murine arteries using two-photon laser scanning microscopy (TPLSM).