Abstract

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.