A Novel 2.5D Culture Platform to Investigate the Role of Stiffness Gradients on Adhesion-Independent Cell Migration
Figure 2
Influence of matrix stiffness on 2.5D cell migration.
(a) Elastic modulus of 0.5%, 1%, and 2% alginate gelled using 100 mM CaCl2. **P<0.01 for elastic moduli of alginate hydrogels prepared using different concentrations of alginate, as determined by Student’s unpaired two-tailed t test. (b) HEK 293 cell migration into 0.5% alginate (white bars), 1% alginate (grey bars), and 2% alginate (black bars) at days 3 and 6. Statistical significance for cell migration into different concentrations of alginate was determined using Student’s unpaired, two-tailed t-test; *P<0.05 for migration into 0.5% alginate compared with migration in 1% and 2% alginate on day 3 and **P<0.01 for migration into 0.5% alginate compared with migration in 1% and 2% alginate on day 6. Error bars represent the standard deviation of three samples.