Fig. 3.

Characterization of HDF culture and polyplex distribution, transgene expression, and cell viability following transfection in MAP gels. A) 3-D rendering of z-stack of HDFs (actin in red, nuclei in blue) cultured in MAP gels 2 days after seeding. IMARIS was used to generate a volume render of the MAP gel of the left half of the image. Scale bar = 150 lm. B) 3-D render of HDFs cultured in MAP gels (MAP gel not shown) with YOYO-1-labelled polyplexes (green) after 4 h of polyplex exposure. Scale bar = 200 lm. C). 3-D render of co-localization of YOYO-1 polyplexes and cell actin after 4-hour transfection in MAP gel. Vertical axis represents the z-axis. D) Quantification of area of polyplex and actin co-localization along z-axis. E) Transgene expression of HDF culture in MAP gels over time as a function of DNA polyplex dose (*p < 0.05 and ***p < 0.001). F) Relative cell viability over time as measured using the PrestoBlue assay as a function of DNA polyplex dose (*p < 0.05 between 0.5 lg and other two conditions; +p < 0.05 between 0.5 lg and 0.125 lg). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)