Fig. 6.

Effects of elastic moduli of gels (E_gel) on integrin-β₁ expression. A: confocal images of cells stained for the integrin-β₁ (red color). White arrows indicate the leading edge of ASMCs. B: inverse dependency of integrin-β₁ on E_gel. C: correlation between the integrin-β₁ expression level and the VEGF secretion level. Bars and error bars represent the means ± SD. Scale bar = 50 μm. In these experiments, human ASMCs were seeded on the collagen-conjugated polyacrylamide gels at a density 1,000 cells/cm². Integrin-β₁ expression was detected by staining with anti-β₁-integrin antibodies at 24 h postseeding. *P < 0.05, statistically significant difference of values between conditions in B.