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culturing of MC3T3-E1/MAECs within the PMs resulted in the complex tissues with the

established cell-cell communications to a considerable extent, indicating the construction of the

microenvironment of vascularized bone tissue. In the cultured C-MT, the cartilage-specific proteins,

aggrecan, collagen I, and collagen II were detected (Figure 5B), indicating that the chondrocytes

inside the carrier were well-proliferated. In addition, the H&E staining was performed to better

visualize cell distributions laden on the PMs. It was evident that the tissues with dense cell density

and orderly arrangement were formed, while the morphology of scaffolds resulted in change due

to the long-term culture period and the aggregations of individual PM architectures (Figure 5C).

Furthermore, in our previous study, the bioefficacy of the constructed microtissues using cell-laden

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PLGA-based PMs was investigated . The level of essential proteins released by cells, including
albumin and multidrug resistance proteins, was significantly higher compared to the static 2D

culture method. Accordingly, we believe that the designed PMs provide abundant adhesion sites

for cell growth at high viability and sufficient cell functions.

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