Figure 4.

Human mesenchymal stem cells do not express vinculin protein when grown on a very compliant substrate. The cells were grown on growth-factor-reduced MATRIGEL™ for 8 h (upper line) and 24 h (central line) and stained for F-actin (red) and vinculin (green). Nuclei are counterstained with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). The formation of tubules within the 3D microenvironment is accompanied by clear cytoskeletal rearrangement and morphology change, while vinculin expression could not be detected, as shown by higher-magnification images (bottom row).