Figure 3.

Non-invasive imaging of iEC survival following subcutaneous implantation of engineered myocardial tissue in mice. (A) Representative bioluminescence images of subcutaneously implanted engineered myocardial tissue cultured with luciferase-tagged iECs over the course of 14 days. Shown are duplicate engineered myocardial tissues implanted into the subcutaneous space of the same mouse. (B) Quantification of iEC survival in vivo based on bioluminescence imaging (n ≥ 4). Treatment groups consisted of engineered myocardial tissue composed of either randomly oriented or aligned scaffolds seeded with iECs alone or in co-culture with iCMs. (C,D) Visualization of iECs within explanted engineered myocardial tissue formed from randomly oriented scaffolds using a human-specific CD31 antibody by immunofluorescence staining (C, red) or immunohistochemical detection (D, brown). *Denotes statistically significant in comparison to all other treatment groups (P < 0.05). Scale bars: 100 μm (C,D).