Fig. 1. Early presence of pericytes in Matrigel vessels. Matrigel plugs were removed for analysis after 9 days (A-C) or 5 days (D-I). In A-F, endothelial cells were labeled for CD31 (green), while pericytes were labeled for NG2 (magenta). In G-I, pericytes were labeled for both NG2 (magenta) and PDGFβR (green). Cell nuclei were stained using DAPI (blue). At 5 days, the vessel-like networks contain NG2⁺PDGFβR⁺ pericytes in the absence of CD31-positive endothelial cells. At 9 days, both types of cells are present in the structures. All panels represent z-stacks of confocal images. Scale bar: 40 µm.