Fig. 4
heMSC-Cytodex 1 constructs developed larger pellet diameters, increased cellular proliferation, and, most importantly, improved total chondrogenic output in terms of proteoglycan and Collagen II content as compared to their equivalent cell-only counterparts. a Kinetics of cell growth and chondrogenic differentiation. heMSC-Cytodex 1 constructs and cell-only pellets were seeded with 10 × 103 heMSC at 70% cell confluency. Kinetics of construct/pellet diameter, DNA, GAG, and Collagen II production were monitored during 28 days of differentiation. All p values refer to statistical significance obtained by comparing heMSC-Cytodex 1 constructs to that of cell-only counterparts at the indicated time points. p values: n.s. = p > 0.05, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. and ****p < 0.0001. All numbers shown indicate the fold-changes of heMSC-Cytodex 1 constructs over that of cell-only pellets at the indicated time points. b Histological H&E, Safranin O, Alcian Blue, and Collagen II staining of heMSC-Cytodex 1 constructs and cell-only pellets at day 28 of differentiation. Arrows indicate areas in heMSC-Cytodex 1 constructs with more intense staining compared to that of cell-only pellets. The space occupied by the microcarrier is indicated as “mc”. Scale bar = 500 μm