Fig 4. Hydrogels mimicking myofiber stiffness recapitulate MPC behavior.

Histograms showing the frequency of quiescent, proliferative, and differentiating MPCs (Pax7⁺MyoD^-, Pax7⁺MyoD⁺ and Pax7⁻MyoD⁺, respectively), as a function of hydrogel stiffness (0.5, 2.0, and 18 kPa). Primary myoblasts from adult (n = 5) mice were used for this experiment. Cells were plated and grown for 48 h. The cells were then fixed and stained with DAPI and immunostained with Pax7 and MyoD antibodies. We counted the number of cells in five random fields in four plates for each stiffness preparation. All data are expressed as means ± SEM (*p<0.05; **p<0.001).