Figure 3. Chondrogenesis of human ‘sclera’-derived cells.

A. In vitro chondrogenesis. ‘Sclera’-derived cells were centrifuged to make a pellet and cultured in chondrogenic medium for 4 weeks. Macroscopic feature is shown. B. Histological section of a pellet by micromass culture in a chondrogenic medium stained with alcian blue. Bar: 100 µm. C. Reverse transcriptase-PCR for cartilage-associated genes. Total RNAs were prepared from scleral cells at passage 0, at 10 population doublings, after in vitro chondrogenic induction, and normal cartilage as a positive control. D. Histological sections 4 weeks after transplantation of human scleral cells into cartilage defect of the knee in a rat. (a) Toluidin blue staining. (b) Immunohistochemistry. Human scleral cells were labeled with DiI (red). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Type II collagen was shown as green.