Desmin is expressed in GFP-positive perivascular mural cells in choroidal arterioles.

(A–D) Secondary choroidal arterioles (Type 2 vessels) with circumferential perivascular GFP-positive mural cells (A) were immunopositive for desmin, an intermediate filament protein (B), which colocalized with the circumferential mural cell processes (C). A confocal section in the longitudinal plane of the arteriole (D) demonstrates that desmin immunopositivity in mural cells has a banded appearance owing to its localization within circumferential mural cell processes (arrowheads). Scale bar  = 10 µm. (E–H) Precapillary arterioles (Type 3 vessels) with stellate-shaped GFP-positive mural cells (E) were also immunopositive for desmin (F) and had a branching, rather than banded, appearance. Superposition with the GFP-positive mural cells (G) also demonstrated a colocalization to mural cell processes as evidenced in orthogonal confocal images (arrowheads) in (H). Scale bar = 25 µm.