Figure 2.

Isolation and characterization of cell sheets from c-kit+ CPC. (a) CPC sheets formed after 3 days of culture detached at room temperature onto thermoresponsive surfaces yielding a scaffold-free monolayered cell sheet. (b) Hematoxylin–eosin staining shows that the cell sheet represents a well-organized structure. CPC in the cell sheets survived, retained the ability to proliferate (Ki67), expressed progenitor cell marker Gata 4, interconnected with each other via connexin-43 gap junctions, and were surrounded extracellular matrix proteins (collagen 1, collagen 3, and fibronectin). (c) Macroscopic visualization of epicardially attached CPC sheet after implantation.