Figure 9.

CPs engraft in the CorMatrix. CPs (P5) were seeded onto CorMatrix® ECM®. After culturing the bioscaffolds with CPs in EGM2 for 1 week in static conditions and 2 weeks in dynamic conditions (within a bioreactor), they were included in molds with O.C.T. Compound, Tissue-Tek (OCT) as depicted in the schematic figure (A). After 24 hours in the freezer, longitudinal sections were cut from the OCT blocks containing the bioscaffolds. Sections from the middle of these samples were stained with pericyte markers anti-vimentin, anti-NG2, and anti-PDGFR-β antibodies to check for the presence of CPs inside the bioscaffolds both in static (B) and dynamic conditions (C). In (C), the figures in the right panel are shown with higher magnification for better observation of CPs engrafted within the graft. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. Scale bar: 100 μm. CPs indicates cardiac pericytes; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; ECM, extracellular matrix; EGM2, endothelial growth medium 2; NG2, neural/glial antigen 2; PDGFR-β, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β.