Fig. 2

Morphology of cell-laden elastin-variable hydrogels. A SEM imaging of hydrogels with cells at 72 h. The yellow arrows indicate insoluble elastin, and the white arrows point to clumps of collagen. B MNLO imaging of hydrogels with cells at 0 h and 72 h. The purple SHG signal represents collagen, and the green TPEF signal represents elastin and autofluorescent molecules in cells. C Human dermal fibroblast (HDF) proliferation in hydrogels illustrated through z-stack confocal images of the BrdU assay, showing the DAPI signal (blue), BrdU signal (red), and a combination of DAPI and BrdU signals (purple). D Cell counting based on the DAPI signal (total cell number) and BrdU signal (proliferating cells). Data are represented as mean ± SD from triplicate analyses. *, # p < 0.05