Fig. 6. Inhibition of HUVEC tube formation (A) HUVECs were transduced with Ad-EGFP, Ad-shChM-I or Ad-shTeM and then plated on growth factor-reduced Matrigel in the presence of VEGF (20 ng/ml). Representative phase-contrast micrographs (left panels) and fluorescence micrographs (right panels) after 6 hours incubation at 37°C are shown. Wild-type HUVECs (wild) or HUVECs transduced with either Ad-EGFP or Ad-hTeM organized into tubular networks, whereas HUVECs transduced with either Ad-shChM-I or Ad-shTeM were inhibited from doing so. Scale bar: 100 µm. (B) Total tube length per field was measured by image processing and analysis software. The data represent the means±s.d. from four independent experiments. *P<0.01 versus wild-type HUVECs.