FIGURE 2.

Morphology of 3D HAT-7 cell cultures grown within a Matrigel matrix. (A) Time courses of growth and spheroid development when HAT-7 cells were seeded in Matrigel matrix and incubated in three different culture media: control, differentiation and Hepato-STIM. Images were obtained on the day of seeding and then after 3 days, 1 week and 2 weeks. (B) Size distribution of HAT-7 cells/spheroids in a representative experiment where growth in the three different culture media was compared on days 4, 5, and 6 (D4-D6). Each point represents the area of a single cell/spheroid and the vertical red bars indicate the median values. (C) HAT-7 spheroids isolated from the Matrigel matrix after 7 days of culture in Hepato-STIM and then plated on glass coverslips coated with poly-l-lysine in preparation for microfluorometry experiments to measure intracellular pH and calcium. Scale bars: 20 µm (A), 75 µm (C).