Increased transcription of the lymphangiogenic growth factor VEGF-C in TSP-1^−/− mice. VEGF-C mRNA levels in corneas of 8-wk-old (A) and 6-mo-old (B) TSP-1^−/− mice in comparison to WT controls. (C) Flow cytometric detection of CD11b⁺ macrophages in the corneas harvested from 6-mo-old TSP-1^−/− mice (24.6%) compared with WT controls (19.7%). (D) Expression of VEGF-C in thioglycollate-elicited macrophages from TSP-1^−/− mice (age 8 wk) compared with WT mice detected by real-time PCR. Corneas were pooled from five mice per group in each experiment. Expression of VEGF-C relative to the GAPDH in four PCR reactions per RNA sample is indicated. *, P < 0.05 compared with WT control. Error bars indicate SD.