FIGURE 2.

Alginate hydrogels have higher DNA content over time compared to cells in aggregates. Human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSCs) were seeded in four different cell culture systems: low cell number aggregates, high cell number aggregate, alginate hydrogels without modification and alginate hydrogels modified with arginine‐glycine‐aspartic acid (RGD). The DNA content was analyzed using the PicoGreen assay at (a) day 1; (b) 7; and (c) 14. The same data were also used to compare the different culture systems over time: (d) hMSCs seeded as low cell number aggregates; (e) hMSCs seeded as a high cell number aggregate; (f) hMSCs encapsulated in alginate hydrogels modified with RGD; and (g) hMSCs encapsulated in alginate hydrogels without modification. Data are from three independent experiments. The dotted line indicates the approximate DNA content of 100,000 cells. Statistical significance was determined using one‐way ANOVA with Tukey's test for multiple comparisons. Except for a, all comparisons are statistically significant unless mentioned otherwise; *p < 0.02; n.s: not significant. Data are represented as median with range