Hydrogels prepared from CDM exhibit similar trends to tissue-derived hydrogels. (A) Western blot reveals successful reduction of TSP-2 expression in MC3T3-E1 cells via transfection of an shRNA. (B) Western blot of pre-gel solution demonstrates that the TSP-2 KD gels exhibit a reduction in the expression of collagen type I. (C, D) Rheology shows that hydrogels prepared from MC3T3-E1 CDM exhibit similar trends to tissue-derived hydrogels, (C) with the vector control exhibiting a higher modulus than TSP-2 KD (n = 6) (rheological traces are given as mean ± SEM), with (D) quantification of the maximal storage modulus demonstrating a significant reduction in the TSP-2 KD samples. Results are given as mean + SEM, (n = 6), **p < 0.01.