Smooth Muscle-Like Tissue Constructs with Circumferentially Oriented Cells Formed by the Cell Fiber Technology
Fig 3
Core ECM protein optimization.
(a) Bar graph of the average Young’s modulus of various types of ECM protein, organized in increasing stiffness. n = 50, and data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. (b) PCol and ACol-L failed to support fiber formation as shown in the day 1 images where DFAT cells mainly aggregated into spheroids as opposed to cell fibers. (c) ACol-H is stiff enough to support initial formation of DFAT cells into fiber structures, but failed to maintain the fiber structures as almost half of the cells already aggregated into spheroids by day 10. All concentrations of fibrin tested successfully supported initial DFAT cell fiber formation (day 1), but by day 33, almost all cells in Fibrin-L (d) and about half of the cells in Fibrin-M (e) aggregated to spheroids, and only Fibrin-H (f) still maintained the fiber structures. (g) Mixture of collagen and fibrin, ACol-Fib, is also able to support initial DFAT cell fiber formation as well as maintain the fiber structures for at least 33 days. Scale bar = 1 mm.