Figure 2
IL-1β reduces collagen gel contraction by adult and fetal but not ESC-tenocytes. Collagen gels containing (A) adult and (B) fetal tenocytes remain significantly larger in the presence of IL-1β (blue) than adult and fetal tenocytes cultured in the absence of IL-1β (red) but collagen gel contraction by ESC-tenocytes (C) is not affected in IL-1β treated ESC-tenocytes (blue) compared to non-treated control ESC-tenocytes (red). (D) The storage modulus of tendon-like constructs generated by adult and fetal, but not ESC-tenocytes, is significantly lower in the presence of IL-1β (blue bars) than in control adult and fetal cells cultured in the absence of IL-1β (red bars). Storage modulus is normalised to the size of the starting material. Error bars represent the s.e.m. of three independent biological replicates. *p < 0.05 using an unpaired Student’s t-test.
