Figure 6
Intra-articular injection of mixed ACCs+BMSCs cell therapy showed enhanced cartilage repair in the MSX rat OA model. OA was induced in rats by meniscectomy surgery. Undifferentiated cells of either BMSCs (3x105 cells; n=7) or ACCs (3 × 105 cells; n=7) or BMSCs+ACCs (1.5 × 105 BMSCs+1.5 × 105 ACCs; n=7) were injected intra-articularly into the right knee joint of the rats 1 week post-surgery. The animals were killed 10 weeks after receiving the single injection of cells. Safranin-O staining was used to assess proteoglycan deposition and cartilage matrix formation in the tibia focusing on load-bearing medial compartment. The ACCs+BMSCs treatment group showed enhanced ECM matrix deposition in the OA rat model. The scale bars represents 200 μm. Images are representative of experiments performed on seven different animals. Yellow squares represent the magnified areas and arrows indicated the regenerated tissue.
