FIG. 5.

(A) MTT assay of Caco-2 cells on scaffolds compared to cells grown without a scaffold. There were no statistically significant differences. (B, C) Scaffolds seeded with constitutively expressing green fluorescent protein-enteroids (scale bars = 100 μm). The scaffolds were able to accommodate the enteroids and the enteroids began to attach and cover the villi of the scaffold. (D, E) C57 enteroids seeded on the scaffolds (scale bars = 100 μm). (D) Enteroids were stained for Ki67 and E-cadherin, demonstrating that the cells continued to proliferate and were of epithelial origin. (E) Enteroids were stained for CrgA and SI. There were occasional positively staining cells for both markers, but very few overall, likely due to the fact that the enteroids were maintained in stem cell growth media. (F) A top-down SEM of seeded scaffolds demonstrating enteroids attaching to the villi (scale bar = 250 μm). (G) A higher magnification SEM of enteroids (scale bar = 20 μm) attaching to and wrapping around a single villus. (H) Side-view SEM of seeded scaffold showing enteroids attaching to the tops of the villi in this case (scale bars = 100 μm). (I) Higher magnification SEM of the region highlighted in white in (H) showing the enteroids (scale bar = 25 μm) on top of the villus. CrgA, chromogranin A; SI, sucrase-isomaltase. Color images are available online.