FIG. 5.

Long-term effects of UX-PCL on hMSCs organization. (A) CLSM images of hMSCs. hMSCs aligned along the ridges on UX-PCL, but randomly organized in control group over the period investigated (Insets: HP- and UX-PCL; double-headed white arrow: ridge direction; scale bar=500 μm). (B) Frequency distributions of cellular arrangement angles. The hMSCs on UX-PCL aligned into a narrower range of angles with increasing the culturing time. (C, D) Dynamic elongation and alignment of hMSCs. The efficiencies of elongation and alignment of hMSCs increased rapidly on UX-PCL in the initial culture period and became relatively stable for further culture. ** and ***Represent the significant difference compared with that of control group at each time point (n=3; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; NS, p>0.05). Dashed dark lines in (B, D) indicated the expected values of perfectly isotropic samples. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tec