Fig. 2

Preparation of AEC patch and their characterization. (A) Alginate solution before and after being mixed with ECM solution. (B) Optical image of dried alginate/ECM patch in upper and cross view. (C) The rehydrated AEC patch with CCM in upper and cross view. Scale bar is 5 mm. (D) Representative images of water contact angles for alginate (ALG) and alginate/ECM (ALG/ECM) patch. (E) A compressive stress-strain curve of alginate and ALG/ECM hydrogel. (F) Measurement of both storage (G’) and loss (G”) modulus in the ALG/ECM hydrogel. (G) Release profile of CCM as observed using AC and AEC patch, respectively for up to 96 h. (H) Total proteins content as assessed by the released proteins out of AC and AEC patch, respectively at 3 day. Quantitative analysis of released growth factors/cytokines out of AC and AEC patch: (I) VEGF, (J) HGF, (K) IGFBP, (L) IL-6 and (M) IL-8, respectively. Statistically significant difference (*p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001)