Fig. 4.

The dimer formation directs the time-controlled adhesion of macrophages. a Fluorescent images of macrophages immunostained for vinculin (in green), actin (in red), and nuclei (in blue) after 12 h under culture. b Fluorescent images of macrophages stained for actin (in red) and nuclei (in blue) over the course of culture time (12, 18, or 24 h) and the determined representative densities, areas, and elongation factors of the attached macrophages. The dimer formation with the Mg²⁺-BP NPs (MgBNP dimer) or the RGD-Mg²⁺-BP NPs (RGDBNP dimer) was induced after 0 h under culture. The time-manipulated dimer formation was induced with Mg²⁺-BP NP formation after 0 h, followed by RGD-Mg²⁺-BP NP formation after 12 h or 18 h (MgBNP-RGDBNP 12 h or MgBNP-RGDBNP 18 h dimer). Scale bars are 50 µm. Data are means ± s.d. (n = 4 for densities and n = 10 for areas and elongation factors). ***P < 0.001 (two-tailed Student’s t-test or ANOVA)