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. 2012 Jul 12;7(7):e40741. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040741

Figure 5. Endothelial cells promote upregulation of ECM-associated genes in islet cultures.

Figure 5

Quantitative real-time PCR analyses of the ECM-associated (a) ITGB1 and (b) VEGF genes were performed on islets cultured in 2D or 3D microenvironments in the absence or presence of HFF and/or HUVEC for 8 days. Values were normalized to mouse 18s and are presented as the fold increase in recorded expression levels versus those of free islets cultured under the same conditions. Expression analyses of (c) ITGB1and (d) VEGF-A were performed by comparing 3D to 2D settings of various cell cultures. Values are presented as the fold increase in expression levels of 2D versus 3D cultures. (e) c-peptide concentrations in KRB media were measured from 8-day-old cultures of 3D scaffolds seeded with islets, islets + HFF or islets + HFF + HUVEC after challenge with low glucose doses (2.5 mM) and high glucose doses (17.5 mM).