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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Arthritis Rheum. 2011 Oct 27;64(4):1182–1192. doi: 10.1002/art.33444

Figure 1. Mechanical injury induces cell death and loss of glycosaminoglycans in bovine cartilage explants.

Figure 1

Full-thickness cartilage explants (n=80 explants) were subjected to mechanical injury or placed in the loading machine but not loaded as control. The explants were analyzed by Live/Dead viability assay immediately after mechanical injury (0 hours) or following culture for 24, 48 or 96 hours. In addition, the effect of mechanical stress on cartilage extracellular matrix was evaluated by safranin O staining and by quantification of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) release into supernatants. A, Percentage of viable cells in cartilage explants. Values are mean ± SD. ** = P < 0.001 vs control; * = P < 0.01 vs control. B, Percentage of viable cells in superficial zone (SZ) of cartilage explants. Values are mean ± SD. ** = P < 0.001 vs control; * = P < 0.05 vs control. C, Safranin O staining of control explants and after mechanical injury at 0, 24, 48 and 96 hours. Original magnification x40. D, Quantitative analysis of sGAG release into supernatants. Values are mean ± SD. * = P < 0.05 vs control; ** = P < 0.001 vs control. Values represent mean ± SD of five separate experiments each in duplicate.