Figure 10.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of HAT-7 cells encapsulated in self-crosslinkable oxidized alginate-carboxymethyl chitosan hydrogel with weight ratio of 2:1(A1–A3), 3:1 (B1–B3), and 4:1 (C1–C3) after 14 days of in vitro culture showed the round morphology of HAT-7 cells and initiation of the mineral formation. (2) and (3) are the magnified (with 10 and 50 k magnifications, respectively) images of (1) and (2). Red arrows show HAT-7 cells in the hydrogels in (A1,A2,B1) and globular-like structures in (B3) and ribbon-like and rod-like mineralized structures in (C2,C3).