Fig. 4
Characterization of 3T3 spreading on fibronectin-coated gels. a Cartoon representing the three ways fibronectin was crosslinked to viscoelastic PAA gels. b Bright field images of 3T3 cells after 24 h on gels with G’ = 5 kPa and variable G” coated with 0.1 mg/ml human fibronectin. Scale bar = 50 μm. c Average projected cell area of 3T3 fibroblasts after 24 h on gels functionalized with fibronectin on the elastic part of the gel (left), on the elastic and the viscous part of the gel (middle) and on the linear PAA (viscous; right). Sample size: NHS gels 0 Pa n = 118 cells, 200 Pa n = 127 cell, 500 Pa n = 104 cells; sulfoSANPAH gels: 0 Pa n = 116 cells, 200 Pa n = 119 cells, 500 Pa n = 144 cells ***Statistically significant differences with a p-value of <0.01, as calculated by non-parametric Tukey's tests; “ns” indicates no statistical difference
