Fig. 2

Mitochondrial fusion and fission during chondrogenic differentiation of rCPSCs. Rat CPSCs were cultured with chondrogenic induction medium for 0, 3, 7 and 14 days. A Chondrogenic markers and mitochondrial dynamics (fusion and fission) were measured at mRNA level. B, C Protein levels of the markers of chondrogenesis and mitochondrial dynamics (fusion and fission) were measured by western blot and quantitative analysis. D Mito-Tracker Red images of differentiated and undifferentiated CPSCs collected using confocal microscopy. E TEM images of un or -differentiated CPSC, blue arrow: normal mitochondria; red arrow: mitochondrial fusion. Bar = 2 and 0.5 µM. The data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. N = 3. *P less than 0.05 versus undifferentiated CPSCs