FIG. 3.

CD34⁺ iPSC-EPs undergo vasculogenesis and self-assemble into a capillary plexus in collagen hydrogels. (A) The assembly of the capillary plexus was tracked with brightfield and epifluorescent microscopy throughout the experiment. Calcein was used to confirm viability. (B) After 1 week in culture, the vascular networks were fixed and stained for VE-cadherin, F-actin, and DAPI. White arrow indicates the presence of SMCs. (C) CD34⁺ iPSC-EP seeding density was varied from 0.55 to 2 million cells/mL; the resulting networks were evaluated and compared using our computational pipeline. Scale bars are 400 μm (A) and 100 μm (B). ****p < 0.0001. SMCs, smooth muscle cells. Color images are available online.