Figure 1.

WNT3A in Combination with FGF2 Enhances Expansion and Chondrogenic Potential of MSCs

(A) Schematic overview of the experimental protocol. P0, passage 0; P1, passage 1.

(B and C) Proliferation rate of MSCs after 10 days of expansion (B; n = 4 donors) or up to six passages (C; n = 1 donor) (each symbol represents a passage) in the indicated media. Lines indicate the polynomial regression representatives of the number of WF-MSCs (+WNT+FGF; solid) or F-MSCs (+FGF; dotted).

(D) Thionine staining (glycosaminoglycan; GAG) and collagen type II immunostaining of representative sections from cartilage pellets formed with cells expanded in the indicated conditions (n = 3 donors with three pellets per donor) after 5 weeks of chondrogenic induction. The scale bar represents 1 mm.

(E) Analysis of the thionine-positive areas of pellet cultures chondrogenically differentiated in the indicated conditions (n = 3 donors with three pellets per donor).

(F) Analysis of the pellet size of differentially expanded MSCs (n = 3 donors with three pellets per donor).

Values represent means ± SEM of three donors. ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01, ^∗∗∗p < 0.001, ^#p < 0.01 compared to the other conditions.