Cell spreading area effects on SMC proliferation (24-h culture). SMCs were cultured on micropatterned matrix islands of the same shape (CSI ≈ 0.45) and different spreading area (i.e., 1500, 500, and 300 μm2), and BrdU incorporation was subsequently analyzed (∼50 cells per group, three independent experiments). Bars represent mean ± SD. The asterisk indicates the statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between specified groups.