FIG. 4.

SMAD3 knockdown resulted in reduced GAG deposition. SafraninO-Fast Green staining of scaffold pairs cultured in 5 ng/mL TGFβ3. (A) NT and scrambled shRNA; (B) NT and SMAD3 shRNA; (C) NT and scrambled shRNA with RUNX2; (D) NT and SMAD3 shRNA with RUNX2. Square brackets indicate scaffold pairs cultured in the same well. GAG-rich matrix was observed in NT samples across all groups, while little GAG was observed in shRNA SMAD3 or RUNX2 transduced scaffolds. Scale bar = 100 μm. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea