Fig. 3

Difference in chondrogenic potential between MSC-highTR and MSC-lowTR. a Western blot analysis comparing the expression level of endogenous collagen type II (col2) in WJ-MSCs according to their expression levels of TβRI/ALK5 and TβRII as well as TGFβ1 treatment. b Quantification of the bands using ImageJ software shows that endogenous collagen type II expression is higher in MSC-highTR than in MSC-lowTR. c, d Following 2 weeks of culture, Alcian blue staining indicates that MSC-highTR have a much higher chondrogenic differentiation potential than MSC-lowTR. e, f In mice, immunostaining with an anti-collagen II antibody at 5 weeks after implantation indicates that a MSC-highTR-a loaded XHA scaffold is more effective for chondrogenesis than MSC-highTR alone (n = 3). **p <0.01, *p <0.05. ALK5 activin-like kinase receptor 5, MSC-highTR Wharton’s Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells highly expressing TβRI/ALK5 and TβRII, MSC-lowTR Wharton’s Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells lowly expressing TβRI/ALK5 and TβRII, TβR transforming growth factor-beta receptor, TGFβ transforming growth factor beta, XHA cross-linked hyaluronic acid