Figure 1.

Notochordal cell-derived matrix (NCM) increases the DNA (A, B), glycosaminoglycan (GAG; C, D) and GAG/DNA (E, F) content of chondrocyte-like cell (CLC) micro-aggregates. Average of two samples per donor with depicted mean values. CLC micro-aggregates of 35,000 cells were cultured in basal culture medium (negative control), supplemented with 10 ng/mL TGF-β₁ (positive control), or 10 mg/mL NCM for 28 days. ³⁵SO₄^2- incorporation (proteoglycan (PG) synthesis rate) was determined at day 7 (G, H). ^*,**,***p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.001, respectively, for the indicated condition versus all other conditions; ^#p < 0.05 for the two indicated conditions by the horizontal bar; n = 6 per species, in duplicates. ANOVA (normally distributed data), Kruskal Wallis/Mann–Whitney U (non-parametric data), and Benjamini & Hochberg tests were performed.