FIG. 1.

Schematic of experimental design. In study 1, adult chondrocytes were harvested from canines, expanded, and then encapsulated in a three-dimensional agarose gel scaffold, with tissue properties monitored over a 28-day culture period. In study 2, gel-alone (chondral) and gel-tantalum (osteochondral) constructs were created from passaged chondrocytes, cultured until reaching native Young's moduli, and then implanted in to the knee joints of adult dogs to study biocompatibility and immune response to the implanted constructs. Color images available online at www.liebertonline.com/ten.