Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A microfluidic model of human dental pulp angiogenesis for preclinical drug and biomaterial testing

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102776

Figure Lengend Snippet: Sketch of a tooth injury where the highly vascularized dental pulp is exposed. Angiogenesis in the dental pulp is emulated on a three-channel microfluidic chip where dental pulp stem cells are seeded in fibrin hydrogel in the middle. HUVECs are seeded on the gel interface in the side channel, forming a monolayer that is sprouting into the gel. Here, the model is used for evaluating dentistry-related drugs and biomaterials.

Article Snippet: Red fluorescent protein (RFP) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Angio Proteomie) were cultured to 90 % confluency in endothelial growth medium (Vasculife, Cell systems) in T75 culture flasks precoated with 0.2 % gelatine (Sigma) for 1 h at 37 °C.

Techniques:

Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A microfluidic model of human dental pulp angiogenesis for preclinical drug and biomaterial testing

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102776

Figure Lengend Snippet: A) Angiogenic sprouts from HUVECs stained with CD31 (red) growing in fibrin hydrogel containing different concentrations of dental pulp stem cells. Scale bars: 200 μm. B). Quantification of total vessel length (μm), vessel area fraction (%), branch point count and segment count for the different dental pulp stem cell concentrations. Each data point represents one chip analysed in four distinct regions. Data presented as mean ± SD (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: Red fluorescent protein (RFP) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Angio Proteomie) were cultured to 90 % confluency in endothelial growth medium (Vasculife, Cell systems) in T75 culture flasks precoated with 0.2 % gelatine (Sigma) for 1 h at 37 °C.

Techniques: Staining

Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A microfluidic model of human dental pulp angiogenesis for preclinical drug and biomaterial testing

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102776

Figure Lengend Snippet: A) Angiogenic sprouts from HUVECs stained with CD31 (red) growing in hydrogels with different fibrin concentrations. Scale bars: 100 μm. B). Quantification of total vessel length (μm), vessel area fraction (%), branch point count and segment count. Each data point represents one chip analysed for three distinct regions. Data presented as mean ± SD (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: Red fluorescent protein (RFP) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Angio Proteomie) were cultured to 90 % confluency in endothelial growth medium (Vasculife, Cell systems) in T75 culture flasks precoated with 0.2 % gelatine (Sigma) for 1 h at 37 °C.

Techniques: Staining

Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A microfluidic model of human dental pulp angiogenesis for preclinical drug and biomaterial testing

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102776

Figure Lengend Snippet: A) Flow generation driven by hydrostatic pressure from using pipette tips containing different volumes. B) Angiogenic sprouts of HUVECs stained with CD31 (red) growing during static (left), contra-directional (middle) or co-directional flow (right) conditions. Scale bars: 100 μm. C). Quantification of total vessel length (μm), vessel area fraction (%), branch point count and segment count for the different hydrostatic pressures. Each data point represents one chip analysed for four distinct regions. Data presented as mean ± SD (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: Red fluorescent protein (RFP) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Angio Proteomie) were cultured to 90 % confluency in endothelial growth medium (Vasculife, Cell systems) in T75 culture flasks precoated with 0.2 % gelatine (Sigma) for 1 h at 37 °C.

Techniques: Transferring, Staining

Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A microfluidic model of human dental pulp angiogenesis for preclinical drug and biomaterial testing

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102776

Figure Lengend Snippet: Maximum intensity projections of confocal z-stacks of angiogenic sprouts (A–D). A) Cross-section of angiogenic sprouts of HUVECs stained with CD31 (red), collagen IV (green) and dapi (blue). White arrows indicate collagen IV production by dental pulp stem cells. Scale bar: 50 μm. B) and C) angiogenic tip cells stained with CD31 (red), collagen IV (green) and dapi (blue). Scale bar: 40 μm. D) Cross-section of angiogenic sprouts with red fluorescent protein (RFP)-producing HUVECs (red) and dental pulp stem cells stained with vimentin (green). Scale bar: 7 μm. E) Angiogenic sprouts perfused with 1 μm fluorescent beads (green). Scale bar: 100 μm. F) Angiogenic sprouts perfused with 10 μm fluorescent beads (green). Scale bar: 100 μm. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: Red fluorescent protein (RFP) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Angio Proteomie) were cultured to 90 % confluency in endothelial growth medium (Vasculife, Cell systems) in T75 culture flasks precoated with 0.2 % gelatine (Sigma) for 1 h at 37 °C.

Techniques: Staining

Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A microfluidic model of human dental pulp angiogenesis for preclinical drug and biomaterial testing

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102776

Figure Lengend Snippet: A) Maximum projections of confocal z-stacks showing growth of angiogenic sprouts from red fluorescent protein (RFP) producing HUVECs (red) monitored live over 3 days. Scale bars: 200 μm. B) Quantification of total vessel length (μm), mean segment length (μm), vessel area fraction (%), mean segment diameter (μm). Each data point represents one chip analysed for four distinct regions. Data presented as mean ± SD (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: Red fluorescent protein (RFP) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Angio Proteomie) were cultured to 90 % confluency in endothelial growth medium (Vasculife, Cell systems) in T75 culture flasks precoated with 0.2 % gelatine (Sigma) for 1 h at 37 °C.

Techniques:

Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A microfluidic model of human dental pulp angiogenesis for preclinical drug and biomaterial testing

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102776

Figure Lengend Snippet: A) Schematic sketch of treatment schedule for day 1. B) Maximum projections of confocal stacks of HUVECs (red, CD31) treated on day 1 and fixed on day 4. Scale bars: 200 μm. C) Quantification of cell death %, LDH release and fold increase in vessel area fraction and vessel length after treatment. Each data point represents one chip analysed for three distinct regions. Data presented as mean ± SD (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: Red fluorescent protein (RFP) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Angio Proteomie) were cultured to 90 % confluency in endothelial growth medium (Vasculife, Cell systems) in T75 culture flasks precoated with 0.2 % gelatine (Sigma) for 1 h at 37 °C.

Techniques:

Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A microfluidic model of human dental pulp angiogenesis for preclinical drug and biomaterial testing

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102776

Figure Lengend Snippet: A) Schematic sketch of treatment schedule for day 3. B) Maximum projections of confocal stacks of HUVECs (red, CD31) treated on day 3 and fixed on day 6. Scale bars: 200 μm. C) Quantification of cell death (in %), LDH release, fold increase in vessel area fraction and vessel length after treatment. Each data point represents one chip analysed for three distinct regions. Data presented as mean ± SD (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: Red fluorescent protein (RFP) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Angio Proteomie) were cultured to 90 % confluency in endothelial growth medium (Vasculife, Cell systems) in T75 culture flasks precoated with 0.2 % gelatine (Sigma) for 1 h at 37 °C.

Techniques: