Endothelial Cells within 3D Polymeric Matrices

Submitted by Laura Indolfi of the Edelman Lab in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology

Laura Indolfi
Edelman Lab, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Confocal Micrograph

"My work focuses on the role of cell-material interactions in cellular phenotype modification.  This image represents endothelial cells within three-dimensional polymeric matrices used for cell therapy. Nuclei are in blue, the actin cytoskeleton is in red and vinculin focal adhesions are in green. Some auto-fluorescence of the matrix struts can as well be seen in blue.  This image allowed us to verify that indeed endothelial cells seeded on a contoured substratum adapt their morphology to the material they are in contact to, by bending and wrapping around it."