Retention of HB-IGF-1 in human cartilage explants. Human cartilage (grade 0 to 2) was incubated with HB-IGF-1 or IGF-1 for two days (Day -2 to 0), washed, and incubated in IGF-free medium for 4 days (Days 0–4). (A) Amount of HB-IGF-1 or IGF-1 remaining in cartilage after 0–4 days. The experiment was performed on cartilage from four donors and a representative Western blot is shown. (B) Analysis of four Western blots by densitometry, normalized to the density of 5 ng of the respective protein standard. mean ± SEM, * vs. IGF-1, p<0.05.