Soft substrate delays senescence. (A–G) Cells stained for β-gal (blue), a well-established senescence marker, show that while senescence gradually increases for TCP over the passage, on the gel after an initial increase it remains constant (EP: passage number ≤6, MP: passage number >6 and ≤10, LP: passage number >10). The same is quantified in G (N=3, n=400). Results are expressed as mean±s.e.m. *P<0.05. Scale bars: 200 µm. (H–N) Comparison of expression of total nuclear Lamin B1 (red) between LP UC-MSCs grown on TCP and gel. The decrease of Lamin B1 expression on TCP (H–J) compared to UC-hMSCs on the gel (K–M). Quantification of intensity shows that Lamin B1 is maintained in late passage UC-hMSCs on the gel (N) (N=2, n=22). Further, comparison of Lamin A expression for late passage UC-hMSCs on plastic (TCP) (O–Q) and on the gel (R–T) reveals the fact that Lamin A expressed more on TCP. The same is quantified in figure (U) (N=2, n=20). Results are expressed as mean±s.d. **P<0.001. Scale bars: (H–T) 10 µm.