Fig. 2

Viability of WJ-MSCs cultured with a XHA hydrogel. a–c In two-dimensional culture, the CCK-8 and Live/Dead® assays show no difference in cell viability between MSC-highTR and MSC-lowTR, with no cytotoxicity when cells are cultured on a 1 % XHA hydrogel. d–f The assays show that cell viability is higher than 96 %, even when WJ-MSCs are encapsulated in a 1 % XHA hydrogel. Scale bar, 100 μm (n = 3). ALK5 activin-like kinase receptor 5, CCK-8 Cell Counting Kit-8, MSC-highTR Wharton’s Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells highly expressing TβRI/ALK5 and TβRII, MSC-lowTR Wharton’s Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells lowly expressing TβRI/ALK5 and TβRII, O.D. optical density, TβR transforming growth factor-beta receptor, XHA cross-linked hyaluronic acid