Figure 1

Effects of atelocollagen gel on human articular cartilage-derived chondrocytes in three-dimensional culture. (A) Semi-serial sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and immunostained with anti-type I collagen antibody. Atelocollagen gel (brown signal) is observed in the pores of the entire sponge (upper right panel). Scale bar: 200 μm. (B) Sections immunostained with anti-vimentin antibody. Green: Vimentin. Scale bar: 200 μm. (C) Changes in the amount of cellular DNA in the sponge over time. Total DNA content is measured on day1, 8, 14, and 29. Data are normalized to the values at day1. (D) Comparison of the expression of cell cycle-related factors. Normalized expression relative to 2D culture cells at approximately 50–60% confluency (semi-confluent monolayers) is shown. (E,F) The metabolic activity after seeding 5000 cells / well or sponge was evaluated over time by absolute absorbance using a Cell Counting Kit-8. (E) Comparison between 2D culture, AC(−), and AC(+) groups for 7 days. ** and ✝✝denote statistically significant differences between 2D culture and AC(−) group or between 2D culture and AC(+) group (p < 0.01), respectively. (F) Comparison between the AC(−) and AC(+) groups for 29 days. The relative absorbance is shown with the value in AC(+) on day 1 as 1. (C,D,E,F) A representation of three independent experiments, each with three subjects, is shown. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.