Fig. 1.

Histological structure of bioengineered arterial NVU. a Schematic representation of the bioreactor and arterial NVU model. b-e Cryopreserved bioengineered arterial NVU were cut longitudinally to show a cross-section of the NVU wall. The expression of CD31 (b) confirmed the presence of an endothelial cell monolayer on the luminal side of the bioengineered NVU and αSMA (c) confirmed the smooth muscle phenotype of the cells in the inner layer. GFAP (d) and MAP 2/β-tubIII (e) positive staining confirmed respectively the astrocyte and neuron phenotype of the cells on the out layers in radial section of the NVU. f Bioengineered arterial NVU were stained without cryopreservation and were mounted directly on microscopy slide with the antelumen facing the coverslip. An optical sectioning was performed using confocal microscopy to image a focal plan . Staining against GFAP and MAP 2 confirmed the imbrication of the astrocytes and neurons. L = lumen, ABL = albumen