An improved precision-cut lung slices technique for pulmonary vasoconstriction

BACKGROUND: This study presents an improved technique for precision-cut lung slices to overcome the challenge of identifying pulmonary arteries in hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. METHODS: The innovation employs the connexin 40 immunofluorescence staining to precisely identify pulmonary arterial endothelium. RESULTS: The results of the experiments demonstrated that the refined protocol successfully differentiated between pulmonary vessels, trachea or bronchus, and bronchial arteries in precision-cut lung slices. This differentiation was accomplished by administrating a cell tracer into the pulmonary circulation to aid in identifying specific structure. Furthermore, this study accurately distinguished pulmonary arteries from veins using CX40 immunostaining. CONCLUSIONS: This study validates the accuracy and reliability of the improved precision-cut lung slices method in evaluating hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction particularly in pulmonary arteries.