Three-Dimensional Cell and Tissue Patterning in a Strained Fibrin Gel System
Figure 3
Myoblasts in strained fibrin gels.
a) Myoblasts patterning in a strained fibrin gel (Bar: 100 µm). b) The alignment of randomly selected cells was determined by using image-analysis software (Bar: 200 µm). c) Nuclear staining of myoblasts in a strained fibrin gel. The arrows indicate proliferating cells (Bar: 100 µm). d) Linearly aligned cell groups formed in a strained hydrogel (Bar: 400 µm). e) Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining of linearly aligned myoblasts sets(Bar: 200 µm). f) HE staining of a longitudinal section of rat skeletal muscle tissue (Bar: 50 µm). g) A cross-section of a strained fibrin gel containing myoblasts. The cells were evenly distributed in the hydrogel, and adjacent cells were not in contact with each other (HE staining, bar: 50 µm). h, i) SEM image of myoblast positions in a strained fibrin gel (h) (Bar: 100 µm) and in a control fibrin gel (i) (Bar: 100 µm). j) HE staining of myoblasts in a control fibrin gel (Bar: 200 µm). k) Cell proliferation in the fibrin gels subjected to different strains. Asterisks indicate significant difference (p<0.01). The red arrow in the figure indicates the strain direction.