Journal: Bioactive Materials

Article Title: Adaptable sliding hydrogels enable pericellular pocket formation while enhancing MSC chondrogenesis and survival in 3D ☆

doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.03.014

Figure Lengend Snippet: Increasing stress relaxation and plasticity in ASG accelerate MSC-based cartilage formation in 3D . Reverse transcription quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis of chondrogenic markers for differentiation including A) transcription factor SRY-box transcription factor 9 ( SOX9 ) and cartilage matrix proteins B) aggrecan ( ACAN ) and C) type-2 collagen ( COL2 ) relative to SG (N = 3-4) and normalized to GAPDH. D) Safranin O staining of cryosectioned hydrogels at day 7 and day 21. Scale bar 75 μm. Quantification of E) day 7 and F) day 21 sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) content per hydrogel using a dimethylmethylene blue assay (DMMB) (N = 3). G) Immunohistochemical staining for type-2 collagen at day 28. Scale bar 300 μm ns, not significant; ∗ P < 0.05, ∗∗ P < 0.005, ∗∗∗ P < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗ P < 0.0001. The P values are obtained using one-way ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparisons tests.

Article Snippet: The following compounds were added to chondrogenic media for the first three days of culture: 50 μM Blebbistatin (MedChem Express); 10 μM Y27632 (Sigma-Aldrich); and DMSO was also added to relevant control groups.

Techniques: Reverse Transcription, Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Quantitative RT-PCR, Staining, Dimethylmethylene Blue Assay, Immunohistochemical staining

Journal: Bioactive Materials

Article Title: Adaptable sliding hydrogels enable pericellular pocket formation while enhancing MSC chondrogenesis and survival in 3D ☆

doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.03.014

Figure Lengend Snippet: Integrin β-1 expression and cytoskeletal tension correlate with MSC survival and chondrogenesis in ASG. A) Relative gene expression of integrin β-1 ( ITGB1 ) on day 1 (N = 3). B) Representative western blots for integrin β-1 at day 3 and C) quantification (N = 3). GAPDH is used as a loading control and was run on the same blot. D) Representative immunofluorescent images of z-projected integrin β-1 staining on day 3. Scale bar 5 μm. E) Quantification of relative fluorescent intensity of integrin β-1 staining (N = 15 cells across 3 hydrogels). F) Schematic of experimental timeline for drug studies. CM = chondrogenic media; bleb = blebbistatin. Drugs were administered for the first three days of culture in CM and samples were harvested at day 7 and day 21. G) Cell viability is evaluated using live/dead staining at day 7 and H) quantified as a percent viability (N = 3). Scale bar 100 μm. I) Safranin O staining of final tissue formation outcomes at day 21. Scale bar 100 μm ns, not significant; ∗ P < 0.05, ∗∗ P < 0.005, ∗∗∗ P < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗ P < 0.0001. The P value is obtained using an unpaired two-tailed t -test for A, C, and E and using a two-way ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparisons test for H.

Article Snippet: The following compounds were added to chondrogenic media for the first three days of culture: 50 μM Blebbistatin (MedChem Express); 10 μM Y27632 (Sigma-Aldrich); and DMSO was also added to relevant control groups.

Techniques: Expressing, Gene Expression, Western Blot, Control, Staining, Two Tailed Test

Journal: Journal of Translational Autoimmunity

Article Title: T cell proliferative response to a homocitrullinated peptide correlates with joint pathology in collagen induced arthritis

doi: 10.1016/j.jtauto.2025.100345

Figure Lengend Snippet: Citrullinated and Homocitrullinated Proteins/Peptides are Present in DBA/1J Metatarsophalangeal Joints. A) Representative hematoxylin + eosin (H&E) at 80× magnification and immunofluorescent micrographs at 20× magnification of joints from DBA/1J mice immunized with bovine type II collagen (arthritic: N = 9; non-arthritic: N = 10) or PBS (N = 9). Scale bars represent 500 μm. Max projections of Z-stacks show nuclei (DAPI; blue), citrullinated proteins/peptides (CitP; green), and homocitrullinated proteins/peptides (HomoCitP; red). Corrected total fluorescence intensity for B) CitP and C) HomoCitP in three joint structures: bone marrow, synovium, and cartilage. Graphs show the median [IQR], with each symbol representing an individual mouse. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn's multiple comparisons test, and the resulting p-values were p = 0.0046, p = 0.0084, p = 0.4076, p = 0.0143, p = 0.0136, and p = 0.1733 respectively, with p-values for pairwise comparisons indicated on the graphs. ns: not significant.

Article Snippet: Following application of TrueView autofluorescence quencher, slides were mounted using Vectashield Vibrance Antifade mounting media with DAPI (SP-8500-15; Vector Laboratories; USA) and air dried for 2 h before imaging on the Nikon Ti2-E microscope.

Techniques: Fluorescence

Journal: Bioactive Materials

Article Title: Ribbon-shaped microgels as bioinks for 3D bioprinting of anisotropic tissue structures

doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2025.12.040

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effect of extrusion process on μRB bioink and cell alignment. (A) Schematic of MSCs encapsulated in μRB bioink with HUVECs seeded on top of the printed scaffolds. (B) Live cell staining of MSC alignment on individual μRBs (Scale bar = 100 μm). (C) Distribution of MSC cell length (n = 250 per group); p-values were determined by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's multiple comparisons test; ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001. (D) Cell orientation relative to μRB orientation, where 0° is parallel to the axis of the μRB (n = 250 per group). (E) Confocal images of F-Actin staining for cell morphology and VE-cadherin staining for endothelial cell junctions. Color survey visualization of directional analysis conducted using OrientationJ (Scale bar = 200 μm). (F, G) Quantification of F-actin and VE-Cadherin alignment. For alignment quantification (n = 10 per group) data reported as mean ± S.D., statistical analysis by Watson–Wheeler test, ∗p ≤ 0.05.

Article Snippet: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs, Lonza) were cultured in Endothelial Cell Growth Media (R&D Systems).

Techniques: Staining

Journal: Biomaterials Science

Article Title: Tuning hydrogel properties and Schwann cell behavior through microchannel size control in magnetically templated hydrogels

doi: 10.1039/d5bm01573a

Figure Lengend Snippet: Rat Schwann cell migration into hydrogels with magnetically templated channels is influenced by channel diameter. Migrating rat Schwann cells seeded in hydrogels templated with non-aligned (A, D) 32 µm diameter MAMs, (B, E) 62 µm diameter MAMs, and (C, F) 90 µm MAMs and imaged at (A–C) day 1 and (D–F) day 3 after seeding. Migrating rat Schwann cells seeded in hydrogels templated with aligned (G, L) 32 µm diameter MAMs, (H, K) 62 µm diameter MAMs, and (I, L) 90 µm diameter MAMs and imaged at (G–I) day 1 and (J–L) day 3 after seeding. Cellular distributions in templated hydrogels at day 1 and day 3 for hydrogel templated with (M) 32, (N) 62, and (O) 90 µm MAMs. Cell count data are plotted as the minimum observation, lower 25% quartile (Q1), median, mean, upper 75% quartile (Q3), and maximum observation ( n = 3 per group). All ticks represent 100 µm intervals.

Article Snippet: For in vitro culture, hydrogels underwent a sterile 1× PBS equilibration for 1 d, followed by equilibration in complete Schwann cell media for 1 d (10% fetal bovine serum, 1% penicillin–streptomycin–amphotericin B [MP Biomedicals, 091674049], 20 μg mL −1 bovine pituitary extract, 4 μM forskolin, and 10 ng mL −1 fibroblast growth factor in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's medium).

Techniques: Migration, Cell Characterization

Journal: Biomaterials Science

Article Title: Tuning hydrogel properties and Schwann cell behavior through microchannel size control in magnetically templated hydrogels

doi: 10.1039/d5bm01573a

Figure Lengend Snippet: Rat Schwann cell morphology in magnetically templated hydrogels is influenced by channel diameter. Confocal fluorescent images of Schwann cells in hydrogels templated with (A, J) 32, (B, K) 62, and (C, L) 90 µm MAMs at day 1 (A–C) and day 3 (J–L). Top view of reconstructed surfaces using IMARIS in (D) 32, (E) 62, and (F) 90 µm MAM templated hydrogels at day 1 and day 3 (M–O). Side view of reconstructed surfaces using IMARIS in (G) 32, (H) 62, and (I) 90 µm MAM templated hydrogels at day 1 and day 3 (P–R). White bars at the top represent the respective MAM diameter size during templating for comparison of the cell structure.

Article Snippet: For in vitro culture, hydrogels underwent a sterile 1× PBS equilibration for 1 d, followed by equilibration in complete Schwann cell media for 1 d (10% fetal bovine serum, 1% penicillin–streptomycin–amphotericin B [MP Biomedicals, 091674049], 20 μg mL −1 bovine pituitary extract, 4 μM forskolin, and 10 ng mL −1 fibroblast growth factor in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's medium).

Techniques: Comparison