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. 2020 Jun 1;7:100058. doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2020.100058

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

Chondrogenic differentiation potential of hMSCs embedded in THA-Col 1 compared with hMSC pellet culture. (A) Gene expression analysis relative to hMSC pellets or hMSCs embedded in THA-Col 1 hydrogel (TC MSC) control at day 0 for Col 1 (COL 1A1), Col II (COL 2A1), aggrecan (ACAN), SOX9, and RunX2. Increase in expression was observed for all chondrogenesis-related genes with minor changes for SOX9 and RunnX2. (B) Relative gene expression ratio of Col 2 to Col 1 at day 21. ∗p < 0.05. (C) Quantification of proteoglycans (GAG/sample) including total amount of GAGs released into the media supernatant and GAGs retained in the sample at day 21. (D) GAG/DNA increased over time from day 0 to day 21 for MSC pellet and THA-Col 1 MSCs. ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001. (E) Safranin O staining to visualize proteoglycans in the ECM after 21 days of in vitro culturing at two magnifications for MSC pellets and (F) MSCs embedded in the THA-Col 1 hydrogel (THA-Col 1 MSC) (scale bar = 100 μm). PCR = polymerase chain reaction; GAG = glycosaminoglycan; THA = tyramine derivative of hyaluronan; ECM = extracellular matrix; hMSC = human bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stromal cell.