FIG. 2.

Mechanical testing of random and aligned ES collagen scaffolds. (A) Young's modulus (MPa) for random, aligned (along fiber orientation), and perpendicular to fiber orientation with and without crosslinking (n = 8). (**p = 0.0010 noncrosslinked aligned vs. random collagen scaffolds, *p = 0.03 noncrosslinked aligned vs. perpendicular oriented collagen scaffolds, ^#p = 0.005 crosslinked aligned vs. random collagen scaffolds, ^##p = 0.002 crosslinked aligned vs. perpendicular oriented collagen scaffolds, Mann–Whitney test; ^§p = 0.0001 among all groups in all directions, Kruskal–Wallis test). (B) Young's modulus (MPa) of aligned ES collagen scaffolds over time in culture with or without cells (0 day after soaking in 1× PBS for 1 h, 1 week, and 3 weeks) (n = 6). (*p = 0.0317 acellular collagen scaffolds vs. cell-laden collagen scaffolds for 3 weeks, Mann–Whitney test; ^§p = 0.0074 among all groups, Kruskal–Wallis test). (C) Stress/strain curve for each condition. (D) Dotted outlined area of stress/strain curve in (C). (E) Ultimate stress readings (MPa) for each condition either crosslinked or noncrosslinked (n = 8). (*p = 0.0120 noncrosslinked aligned vs. random collagen scaffolds, ^##p < 0.0001 crosslinked aligned vs. random collagen scaffolds, ^#p = 0.0240 crosslinked aligned vs. perpendicular oriented collagen scaffolds, Mann–Whitney test; ^§p = 0.0001 among all groups in all directions, Kruskal–Wallis test). (F) Ultimate stress (MPa) for aligned ES collagen scaffolds over time in culture with or without cells (0 day after soaking in PBS for 1 h, 1 week, and 3 weeks) (n = 6) (*p = 0.0159 acellular collagen scaffolds vs. cell-laden collagen scaffolds for 3 weeks, Mann–Whitney test; ^§p = 0.0027 among all groups, Kruskal–Wallis test). NC, noncrosslinked; CL, crosslinked; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea