Vegfr3-tdTomato, a reporter mouse for microscopic visualization of lymphatic vessel by multiple modalities

Raw dataset for individual figure panels corresponding to "Redder E, Kirschnick N, Hägerling R, Hansmeier N, Kiefer F. 2021. Vegfr3-tdTomato, a reporter mouse for microscopic visualization of lymphatic vessel by multiple modalities. bioRxiv:2021.2003.2016.435629". Maximum intensity projections are deposited (in .tiff file format).Abstract:Lymphatic vessels are indispensable for tissue fluid homeostasis, transport of solutesand dietary lipids and immune cell trafficking. In contrast to blood vessels, which areeasily visible by their erythrocyte cargo, lymphatic vessels are not readily detected inthe tissue context. Their invisibility interferes with the analysis of the three-dimensionallymph vessel structure in large tissue volumes and hampers dynamic intravital studieson lymphatic function and pathofunction. An approach to overcome these limitationsare mouse models, which express transgenic fluorescent proteins under the control oftissue-specific promotor elements.We introduce here the BAC-transgenic mouse reporter strain Vegfr3 -tdTomato thatexpresses a membrane-tagged version of tdTomato under control of Flt4 regulatoryelements. Vegfr3 -tdTomato mice inherited the reporter in a mendelian fashion andshowed selective and stable fluorescence in the lymphatic vessels of multiple organstested, including lung, kidney, heart, diaphragm, intestine, mesentery and dermis. Inthis model, tdTomato expression was sufficient for direct visualisation of lymphaticvessels by epifluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, lymph vessels were readilyvisualized using a number of microscopic modalities including confocal laser scanning,light sheet fluorescence and two-photon microscopy. Due to the early onset of VEGFR-3 expression in venous embryonic vessels and the short maturation time of tdTomato,this reporter offers an interesting alternative to Prox1-promoter driven lymphaticreporter mice for instance to study the developmental differentiation of venous tolymphatic endothelial cells.