Fig. 2

Cell recovery, viability and proliferation after ejecting hMSCs suspended in various carriers via 30G needles at 10 μl/min. a Proportion of hMSCs delivered, measured using PrestoBlue™, within phosphate buffered saline (PBS), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), gelatin (Gel), type I collagen (Coll) and bone extracellular matrix (bECM). Data represent averages from three donors in five independent experiments (n = 5, mean ± SD). Data normalised against control value of directly plated cells. **p ≤ 0.01, ****p ≤ 0.0001, one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post-hoc test. b Percentage of cell dose delivered as viable cells when ejected at 10 μl/min via 30G needles suspended within two concentrations of CMC (0.5% and 0.25%). Data represent averages from two donors (n = 3, mean ± SD). Data normalised against control value of directly plated cells. Statistically significant differences between numbers of ejected cells compared with control: *p = 0.05, one-way ANOVA with Kruskal–Wallis analysis. c Representative Live/Dead-stained fluorescence images of hMSCs 24 h following ejection at 10 μl/min, using various biomaterials as cell carriers (scale bar = 100 μm). d Representative bright-field images showing morphology of ejected hMSCs cultured for 24 h post ejection. Bundles of fibrils surrounding the ejected cells depicted by arrows (scale bar = 50 μm). e Proliferation of hMSCs given as fold change in number from day 1 of each sample, measured using PrestoBlue™ (mean ± SD, n = 4 measured in two donors). Ctrl control