15502-m-pleumeekers

Figure 1. Cartilage matrix formation by several cell types in vitro . To promote chondrogenesis, cells were encapsulated in alginate beads and cultured without ( dotted ) or with ( black ) TGFβ1 for 5 weeks. (A) DNA content was determined before culture dotted line), being on average 0.53 ± 0.183 μg DNA per alginate bead, and after 5 weeks of culture. The amount of DNA was significantly higher in constructs containing ECs or NCs. (B) Relative gene expression levels of COL2A1 and ACAN were corrected for the best housekeeper index. All cell sources expressed ACAN and COL2A1 after chondrogenic induction. (C) Biochemical evaluation of sGAG and collagen content after chondrogenic induction in alginate beads. ACs deposited most sGAGs. Collagen-production was low in vitro . Data are shown as mean ± SD. For statistical evaluation, a mixed model was used. *, ** or *** indicates p -values smaller than 0.05, 0.01 or 0.001 respectively compared to the control condition (asterisk is shown in the bar) or compared to the other cell sources (asterisk is shown above the bar). EC = Ear Chondrocytes ( n=4 donors) ; NC = Nasal Chondrocytes ( n=4 donors) ; AC = Articular Chondrocytes ( n=4 donors) ; BMSC = Bone-marrow-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells ( n=6 donors) ; AMSC = Adipose-tissue-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells ( n=6 donors). Per donor, 2-3 samples were used for analyses. 71 CARTILAGE-FORMING CAPACITY OF SEVERAL CELL SOURCES 4