Maintenance of aligned astrocytic cytoarchitecture following extraction from micro-columns. Astrocytes seeded at high density in micro-columns (300 μm ID; N = 7) formed longitudinally aligned astrocytes, which were visualized in phase contrast (A) within the micro-column as well as (B) following extraction from the micro-columns using forceps with placement on a poly-L-lysine coated coverslip. (C–E) High-resolution confocal reconstructions of astrocyte bundles following extraction via immunocytochemistry (GFAP, red; DAPI, blue), demonstrating maintenance of bi-polar morphology and alignment of astrocytes. Scale bars A–C: 500 μm; D: 100 μm; E: 50 μm. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)