Angiogenesis in Matrigel

"I am researching NANOG’s role in angiogenesis. Thus far, my research has revealed that NANOG acts through the FLK1 pathway to perform its role in angiogenesis and cell proliferation. I will further investigate if NANOG dedifferentiates endothelial cells to a stem or progenitor-like state. This could be a breakthrough in the fields of regenerative medicine and cardiovascular diseases. This image is of a Matrigel Plug demonstrating the blood vessels formed by human NANOG knockdown cells in a nude mouse. Anti-human vWF (Texas Red) and anti-mouse (FITC) demonstrate the origin of these blood vessels. The Matrigel Plug assay showed that NANOG depletion results in decreased vessel formation, with the vessels present only being derived from the host mouse. This particular picture is that of the control Matrigel Plug containing both human and mouse-derived blood vessels."