Figure 6
Functional characterization of CTEPH-EC. (a) In vitro angiogenic potential of CTEPH-EC quantified by the number of branching points, tube length, cell covered area and number of loops. Representative pictures of spontaneous tube formation in HPAE and CTEPH-EC, n = 9 HPAE, n = 10 CTEPH-EC independent experiments performed in triplicate, p < 0.05*, p < 0.01**, Mann–Whitney U test, values expressed as mean ± SD. (b) Quantification of cell connections and geometrical features measured at 24, 72 and 120 h and representative pictures of HPAE and CTEPH-EC. p < 0.05*, p < 0.05*, Mann–Whitney U test values expressed as mean ± SD. (c) Migration capacity of CTEPH-EC and HPAE in the wound healing assay. Percentage of wound closure is measured at 8, 24, 32 and 48 h and plotted as the percentage of closure over the average area of width. Representative pictures of wound closure at 0 h and 24 h in HPAE and CTEPH-EC, n = 6 HPAE, n = 7 CTEPH-EC, p < 0.01**, Mann–Whitney U test at 8 h, 24 h, 32 h and 48 h, values expressed as mean ± SD. (d) In vivo angiogenic potential of CTEPH-EC- and HPAE-embedded sponge pellets quantified by the number of vessels in the sponge sections. Representative pictures of vessels in sponges embedded with HPAE and CTEPH-EC. n = 7 HPAE, n = 8 CTEPH-EC independent experiments, p < 0.05*, Mann–Whitney U test, values expressed as mean ± SD. Statistical analysis was performed with GraphPad Prism 7 software, version 7.0e, serial number:GP7-0633739-R###-#####, https://www.graphpad.com.
