Fig. 4: Analysis of the biocompatibility of hydrogels 1–8 in vitro.

a Photo micrographs, taken by fluorescence microscopy, of adherent viable cells in contact with the materials of this study; Live–Dead assay. Horizontal: different materials (1–8); vertical: time (1, 3, 7, and 14 days post incubation). See text. b Photo micrographs, taken by fluorescence microscopy, of adherent viable cells in contact with the materials of this study; Stains: DAPI for cell nuclei and rhodamine for cytoskeleton. Axes like in panel a. c DNA content of the cells that adhered to materials 1–8 at two time points (7 days, left; 14 days, right). At both time points, cell viabilities are found to increase in the Series A and B, i.e., with increasing DCM content, see text. (Error bars: ± SD, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001). Scale bar = 250 μm.