Analyzing the Morphology of 3T3 Fibroblasts in Microenvironment

We have created 3D ordered gelatin scaffolds with monodisperse pores and cultured 3T3 fibroblasts inside. We are interested to explore the effect of microenvironment on the cell morphologies. The morphologies of cells are observed through labeling the F-actin inside the cells with fluorescent phalloidin and imaged by a confocal microscope. We compare the cell morphologies in the following microenvironment - on a 2D hard surface, on a 2D soft gelatin surface, in a 3D collagen gel, and scaffolds of different pore sizes. We found that the cells exhibit wide range of morphologies in different microenvironment. We classified cell shapes into three categories and measured the extension of cells by fitting with an ellipsoid. From the trend of cell extensions, a cell in a large pore resembles one on 2D soft gel surface. This result suggests a crossover in length from 2D-like to 3D-like morphology for cell cultured on a curved surface.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide