FIG. 2.

Assay of hASC proliferation in plate cultures. (A) hASCs were plated on 2D tissue culture plastic and treated with BM containing one of the following supplements at 10% v/v: HBSS, 1 mg/mL tECM solution (tECM), 1 mg/mL collagen type I solution (Col I), or FBS. (B) After 7 days of culture, DAPI nuclear staining showed high cell density in tECM- and FBS-treated groups. (C) MTS assay revealed an elevated cellular metabolic activity in tECM- and FBS-treated groups. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; N = 3. BM, basal medium; 2D, two dimensional; FBS, fetal bovine serum; HBSS, Hanks' Balanced Salt Solution; tECM, tendon extracellular matrix. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea