Fig. 5. Effect of simvastatin on HTM hydrogel contraction compared to clinically-used Rho kinase inhibitor.

(A) Representative brightfield images of HTM cell-encapsulated ECM hydrogels subjected to vehicle control, dexamethasone₅ (D₅; 100 nM [0-5 d]; vehicle [5-10 d]), dexamethasone₅ + simvastatin₅ (D₅; [0-5 d]; S₅; 10 μM [5-10 d]), and dexamethasone₅ + netarsudil₅ (D₅; [0-5 d]; N₅; 1.0 μM [5-10 d]) at 10 d. Dashed lines outline original size of constructs at 0 d. Scale bar, 1 mm. (B) Analysis of HTM hydrogel construct size (N = 24 experimental replicates from 3 HTM cell strains). Symbols with different colors represent different cell strains; dotted line indicates control baseline. The bars and error bars indicate Mean ± SD. Significance was determined by two-way ANOVA using multiple comparisons test; shared significance indicator letters = non-significant difference (p>0.05), distinct letters = significant difference (p<0.05).