Figure 7.
Vascularization of hydrogels one week after implantation. Hydrogels releasing SPARC113 and SPARC118 in response to MMPs were formed in non-degradable reactors and implanted subcutaneously, and compared to gels releasing scrambled peptide, free SPARC113 and SPARC118 in solution, and PBS and VEGF controls. After one week, vascularization was assessed via A) hemoglobin content within the reactor and B–C) by imaging vasculature formed using multiphoton fluorescence imaging. B) Quantification of average vessel diameter. C) Representative images of vasculature (FITC-dextran; red) and collagen (SHG; blue). n.s. p>0.05, * p<0.05, & p<0.01, $ p<0.001, # p<0.0001. n=16 for A, 6–8 for C; error bars represent SEM. Scale bar = 100 μm.