Fig. 3

µ-molded hydrogel contributes to myotube differentiation and alignment a Experimental scheme for determining the effects of µ-molded hydrogel. On day 0 of the diagram in Fig. 1b, C2C12 cells were seeded on 24 well plate (control), hydrogel, and µ-molded hydrogel. The differentiated myotubes were characterized on day 14. b The bright field images showed the morphologies of differentiated myotubes in each group (Scale bar is 200 µm). c In µ-molded hydrogel group, immunostaining image characterizing the mature myotubes by the multi-nucleated (DAPI, blue) myocytes with sarcomere structure (α-actinin, red). d At lower magnification, Immunostaining of α-actinin (red) showed the aligned, elongated myotubes with a similar width.