Chapter 5. Avian embryos a model for the study of primary vascular assembly in warm-blooded animals.

The formation of a primary vascular bed is a dynamic process, aspects of which are readily amenable to time-lapse imaging in avian embryos. At early developmental stages, the body plan of avian embryos is very similar to mammals and has many properties that make it ideal for imaging. We devised labeling, culturing, and imaging techniques that capture high-resolution images of intact avian embryos in four dimensions over large length scales (1 to 5000 microm). Here, we describe multiple techniques for labeling and culturing avian embryos to study the cellular, tissue, and extracellular matrix dynamics of vascular morphogenesis.