Figure 2

Synthetic fibrous DexMA matrices undergo pronounced matrix reorganization during EC network formation. (a) Schematic of microfabricated PDMS multi-well substrate possessing a 4 × 4 array of wells, each supporting a suspended matrix of non-aligned DexMA fibers coupled with RGD to facilitate cell adhesion. (b) Tile-scan confocal image of EC networks after 24 hours of culture on DexMA fiber matrices; rhodamine-labeled fibers (magenta), F-actin (cyan), and nuclei (yellow) (scale bar: 1 mm). (c) Limited elastic recovery of fibers after lysis of CellTracker labeled ECs, demonstrating that physical matrix reorganization is permanent (scale bar: 100 μm). (d) Representative time-lapse images of lifeAct-GFP expressing ECs at 0, 1, 4, and 24 h following seeding (scale bar: 100 μm). Cell area/perimeter ratio (e) and total Fl-μS displacement (f) over the 24-hour time-lapse series of network formation; n = 8.