FIG. 3.

Stiffness of fibroblast-encapsulating 3D fibrin constructs fabricated from clinical or PD fibrin. Stiffness was measured by means of mechanical indentation testing. (A) Clinical fibrin construct stiffness varies with fibrinogen concentration, ranging from 0.7 kPa for 5 mg/mL to 4.4 kPa for 20 mg/mL clinical fibrin. Clinical fibrin constructs with fibroblasts degrade over 5 days of culture. (B) PD fibrin construct stiffness also varies with fibrinogen concentration, ranging from 2.0 kPa for 5 mg/mL to 7.2 kPa for 20 mg/mL PD fibrin. Fibroblasts degrade PD fibrin constructs less than clinical fibrin constructs. Data are mean±SEM, n=3. At each time point after day 1, a single-factor ANOVA without replication was performed to compare if construct stiffness differed among different concentrations. “*” indicates significance at p<0.05, and “**” indicates significance at p<0.01.