Figure 3

Dedifferentiation of chondrogenically differentiated cells. Chondrogenically differentiated cells were converted to dedifferentiated cells (A), which showed almost the same collagen type II expression as (B) in control samples, and similarly (C) uniform expression for Alcian blue staining, (D) like their unstimulated control samples. (E) On the gene level, dedifferentiated cells showed significantly downregulated expression of COL2A1 and SOX9 genes, and confirmed the well-advanced state of dedifferentiation (n = 3). (F) Flow-cytometric profile of CD markers showed a relatively lower expression for dedifferentiated cells compared with the undifferentiated state of MSCs (n = 3), Student t test was performed for statistical analysis, and asterisks were assigned in the order P* < 0.05, P** < 0.01, and P*** < 0.001; mean ± SEM. Bar, 200 μ m.