Figure 4.

Effect of bFGF on sheep and human auricular chondrocyte morphology and doubling time. (A) With bFGF supplementation, cells from both species became smaller and more elongated whereas chondrocytes cultured in standard medium preserved their size and rounded shape. By passage 3, chondrocytes cultured with bFGF supplementation regained more rounded shape and their size remained unchanged; sheep and human auricular chondrocytes cultured in standard medium became larger and acquired fibroblast-like morphology. (B) bFGF supplementation significantly reduced population doubling times (**P < 0.02); these findings remained constant regardless of passage number.