Fig. 3.

Apoptotic cell death around soft and stiff implant. Cleaved Caspase 3 (Casp3) indicates apoptotic cell death and NeuN indicates neurons. Very little co-localization of Casp3 and NeuN was observed in any group. I-L are the overlay of these images with Hoechst. Scale bar = 100 µm. M and N are cell density counts per mm² at week-1(soft N = 14, stiff N = 13) and week-8(soft N = 10, stiff N = 11), respectively; cell counts were calculated by automated analysis of NeuN staining and the result was binned 30 µm from the electrode-tissue interface until 210 µm away, with 30 µm bin size. Bins start 30 µm from the interface because cell count within 30 µm of the interface were too low, yielding inaccurate results.