Perlecan maintains microvessel integrity in vivo and modulates their formation in vitro.
Perlecan is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan assembled into the vascular basement membranes (BMs) during vasculogenesis. In the present study we have investigated vessel formation in mice, teratomas and embryoid bodies (EBs) in the absence of perlecan. We found that perlecan was dispensable for blood vessel formation and maturation until embryonic day (E) 12.5. At later stages of development 40% of