Visualizing Perivascular Astrocytes in Mice

All experiments were approved by the University Committee on Animal Resources of the University of Rochester Medical Center. Unless otherwise noted, we used 8- to 12-week-old male C57BL/6 mice (Charles River). FVB/N-Tg(GFAPGFP)14Mes/J (GFAP-GFP, JAX) mice were used to visualize perivascular astrocytic endfeet. NG2-DsRed and Tie2-GFP:NG2-DsRed were used to identify arteries/arterioles versus veins/venules by endogenous fluorescence: Arteries and arterioles express endothelial GFP and vascular smooth muscle DsRed, and veins and venules express endothelial GFP but lack vascular smooth muscle DsRed. Aqp4^−/− (Aqp4-null) mice were generated as described (53 (link)).