Fig. 5.

Chondrogenic differentiation of anterior cruciate ligament-mesenchymal stem cells (ACL-MSCs) from young and old donors. (A–C) Increased glycosaminoglycan (GAG) staining was observed in cell pellets of all groups after induction of chondrogenic differentiation, which was quantified by histomorphometry. (D) Similarly, an increased GAG/DNA ratio was observed after induction in both ACL-MSCs from young and old donors. (E) Correspondingly, on the messenger RNA level, the expression of chondrocyte marker genes was increased in all groups after induction of chondrogenesis. (F) While the upregulation of ACAN expression was smaller in ACL-MSCs from old donors, this was not considered statistically significant. Upregulation of BGN showed no difference. Bars represent mean values of n=3 donors per group.