Fig. 4.

Mitogenic capacity of CBM loaded with unwashed PSEC and washed PSEC and after the 48 h washing procedure. An in vitro bioassay was used to assess if any mitogenic capacity is retained by the membrane after the 48 h of washing: CBM loaded with unwashed PSEC and washed PSEC were repeatedly washed following the same protocol as for the release kinetics studies at hour 1, 3, 6, 24, and 48 to ensure that the membranes have released the growth factors (a). GF (b) and PDLF (c) were seeded onto these membranes. Proliferation was quantified by BrdU assays. The bars represent the mean ± standard deviation relative to the control CBM (n = 18). The dashed line represents the levels of the control CBM. * p < 0.05