Fig. 3.

Chondrogenic potential of ACSCs treated with AHI in 3D culture. a) Live/dead assay of ACSCs encapsulated in different hydrogels on confocal images. (Scale bar = 200 μm) b) Viability of ACSCs encapsulated in experimental and control hydrogels. c) mRNA expression of the cartilage-specific genes, col2a1, sox9, and acan based on Q-PCR. d) The protein expression of cartilage-specific gene col2a1 by Western blot. e) Quantification of the collagen production in different hydrogels by the HYP assay. f) Quantification of cartilaginous matrix production in different hydrogels via the GAG assay (n = 3, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001).