FIG. 7. AGE stimulation alters endothelial cell morphology and cell surface expression of VE-cadherin. Representative images of bovine retinal endothelial cells cultured in serum-free media for 48 h under various treatment conditions, fixed and stained for VE-cadherin. The treatment conditions were serum-free media alone (A), AGE-BSA (50 μg/ml) (B), and AGE-BSA (50 μg/ml) with BB-94 (2 μmol/l) (C). Disruption of the continuous pattern of VE-cadherin staining (arrows) and the presence of open gaps between adjacent cells (arrow heads) are seen in cultures treated with AGE-BSA. n = 3 cultures from two separate experiments. Bar = 10 μm. (Please see http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/db06-1694 for a high-quality digital representation of this figure.)