Akt1/protein kinase Bα is critical for ischemic and VEGF-mediated angiogenesis
J. Clin. Invest. Eric Ackah, et al. 115:2119 doi:10.1172/JCI24726 [
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Figure 2Akt1–/– mice have impaired ischemia-initiated blood flow recovery. (
A) Blood flow in the gastrocnemius muscle was measured before, immediately after, and at 2 and 4 weeks after left femoral artery resection. Data are expressed as a ratio of the left (ischemic) to right (control) limb perfusion. WT,
n = 14;
Akt1–/–,
n = 12;
Akt2–/–,
n = 6. (
B)
Akt1–/– mice developed necrotic toes at 1 week to 2 weeks after left femoral artery resection while
Akt2–/– and WT littermate mice did not. (
C) Clinical score at 4 weeks after femoral arteriectomy as an index of severity of limb ischemia: 0, normal; 1, pale foot or gait abnormalities; 2, less than half of foot necrotic; 3, more than half of foot necrotic without lower limb necrosis; 4, more than half of foot necrotic with some lower limb necrosis; 5, necrosis or autoamputation of entire lower limb. WT,
n = 14;
Akt1–/–,
n = 12;
Akt2–/–,
n = 6. (
D) Representative lectin staining of capillaries from sections of the gastrocnemius/soleus muscles 4 weeks after femoral ligation in WT,
Akt1–/–, and
Akt2–/– mice. Magnification, ×200. (
E) Quantification of capillary density, calculated as the number of capillaries per muscle fiber. For each animal, 6–8 randomly selected fields (×200) from 3–4 sections were counted;
n = 5. **
P < 0.01; ***
P < 0.001.
