FIGURE 3.

Immunocytochemistry analysis of basement membrane deposition and endothelial cell-cell junction formation in MSCs supported microvascular networks. (A) The EC networks (green) are surrounded by collagen IV (red), one of the major components of basement membrane, in both EC-BMSC and EC-ASC co-cultures (5 million ECs/ml and 1 million MSCs/ml). Empty basement membrane sleaves found in EC-ASC co-culture are marked by arrowheads. Scale bars, 100 µm. (B) Continuous and intact intercellular connections (red) are present along the border of ECs (green) in both conditions, as shown by immunostaining for adherens junction protein VE-cadherin. Nuclei (blue) are stained with DAPI. Scale bars, 50 µm. Donor cell lines BMSC 2 and ASC 1 were used for generation of data presented in (A). Donor cell lines BMSC 3 and ASC 2 were used for generation of data presented in (B).