Figure 7

In vivo engraftment of 3D bioprinted and bulk hydrogels. (a) Implants after 15 days of engraftment, just before explantation (left column). TNN1 immunofluorescence staining used to detect CM and to study their orientation (middle column). The presence of vasculature was identified by vWF labelling (red) while to distinguish between host’s and engineered vasculature we performed Lamin A/C staining that univocally identifies capillaries originated from human endothelial cells (left column). Polar graphs represent the orientation of CM, with 0° corresponding to the fibers deposition direction (printed samples) or the X-axis of the image (bulk sample). Scale bars represent 50 μm and 100 μm. (b) Scatter plots indicating the percentage of CD31+ cells after the digestion of subcutaneous transplants with different geometries.