Additive effects of NANOG and TGF-β1 on restoring the contractile function of senescent microtissues. (A) Effects of NANOG, TGF-β1, or both on the contractile force of microtissues. (B, C) Protein level of ACTA2 in the presence of NANOG, TGF-β1, or both as measured by western blot. (D) Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy of microtissues for ACTA2 (green) protein and F-actin (red) (scale bar = 200 μm). Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation, n = 3 for WB and n = 20 for force measurement. $ denotes p < 0.05 compared with all other samples. TGF-β1, transforming growth factor-beta1.