FIG. 2.
(a) Shrinkage of statically cultured modules (EC, MSC, and MSC+EC modules). Ap/Ap,i is the ratio of the projected area of the modules (Ap) to their initial projected area at time 0 (Ap,i). Connecting lines indicate a statistically significant difference (p<0.05 according to analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey honestly significant difference, n=30), and error bars are standard error of the mean (SEM). At day 7, MSC+EC modules were the largest, followed by MSC-only and finally EC-only modules. After 7 days, EC-only modules did not show any further significant shrinkage, whereas MSC-containing modules continued to shrink to day 21. By the 21st day, both types of EC-containing modules reached the same size and were smaller than their MSC-only counterparts. (b) Experimentally measured construct sizes within the remodeling chamber (Lc, Fig. 1a) at day 21. No statistically significant differences were found between the three groups according to ANOVA (p>0.05), and constructs appeared to achieve approximately the same final length, which contrasted with the results from the statically cultured modules, in which EC-containing modules contracted the most. Error bars are±SEM and n=4 or 5. EC, endothelial cells; MSC, mesenchymal stromal cells.