Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Anti-inflammatory macrophages limit endothelial inflammation and restrict neutrophil recruitment through Gas6/AXL signaling
doi: 10.64898/2026.10.12.758565
Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Schematic of the three-dimensional inflammation-on-a-chip device. A cylindrical lumen lined with human umbilical vein endothelial cells sits within a collagen–fibronectin extracellular matrix. Primary human monocyte-derived macrophages are polarized in situ within the matrix toward pro-inflammatory (Pro-) or anti-inflammatory (Anti-) phenotypes. Top and side ports allow injection of chemoattractants, neutrophils and inhibitors. (B) Cell viability (%) for pro- and anti-inflammatory macrophages on Days 6, 7 and 9. N = 3, n = 3. (C) Polarization Index (CD163 + /CD80 + ratio, log scale). Welch’s t-test on log 2 -transformed values, P = 0.007. N = 4–6, n = 3. (D) Anti/Pro cytokine secretion ratio (log 2 ) for pro- and anti-inflammatory macrophages in 3D collagen– fibronectin hydrogels, quantified by multiplex MagPix Luminex assay. The ratio is the summed concentrations of the three anti-inflammatory analytes (IL-10, soluble CD163 and MDC/CCL22) divided by the summed concentrations of the two pro-inflammatory analytes (IL-6 and TNF-α). Welch’s t-test on log 2 -transformed values, P = 0.0275. N = 4– 5, n = 1. (E) Representative confocal maximum-intensity projections of anti-inflammatory (top) and pro-inflammatory (bottom) macrophages in the 3D collagen–fibronectin matrix on Day 9, stained for Hoechst (nuclei, blue), CD68 (white), CD80 (red) and CD163 (green). Scale bar, 100 µm. In (B) to (D), the center line is the median, the box spans the interquartile range and the whiskers span the full rang(E) with individual biological replicates overlaid.
Article Snippet: Pooled primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs; PromoCell, C-12203 and 50305964) were maintained in Endothelial Growth Medium-2 (EGM-2; Lonza, NC9525043) in T-75 flasks between passages 2 and 7, with media refreshed every 2 days.
Techniques: Derivative Assay, In Situ, Injection, Transformation Assay, Multiplex Assay, Luminex, Confocal, Staining