Figure 4.
Viability and morphology of human fibroblasts encapsulated in hybrid ELP-PEG hydrogels (5 and 2.5 wt %, respectively) with tunable RGD ligand density and matrix stiffness. (A) Day 4 and (C) day 7 live/dead (green/red) confocal projection images of cells encapsulated in RGD-ELP/PEG, X = 1.65 (upper left); RDG-ELP/PEG, X = 1.65 (upper right); RGD-ELP/PEG, X = 2.20 (lower left); and RDG-ELP/PEG, X = 2.20 (lower right). (B) Day 4 and (D) day 7 cell viability quantification. (E) Representative day 7 confocal images of cell morphology. Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue), and F-actin stained with phalloidin (red). (F) Quantification of the percentage of spread cells.