FIG. 6.

Histomorphometry of control and T4-treated constructs at 1 and 2 months. (A, C, E) 1-month metrics, (B, D, F) 2-month metrics. A 0–20% depth corresponds to the upper surface of the construct during the initial membrane attached culture, whereas 80–100% depth corresponds to the lower membrane contacting region. Cell area (A, B) increased toward the central regions of the constructs for both control (−T4) and T4-treated (+T4) constructs, whereas cell density was nearly uniform throughout (C, D). Cell area fraction (E, F) also increased in the central region for both −T4 and +T4 constructs, apparently as a result of increased cell area rather than increased cell density. Differences between −T4 and +T4 constructs were minimal, with differences only reaching statistical significance in the cell area fraction metric, and only at the membrane-contacting surface of the construct (80–100% region). There were no statistically significant cell size differences between control and treatment groups when comparing matched depth regions. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea