Figure 5
Physical and biochemical properties of tissue-engineered cartilage constructs. Hydrogel construct (a) wet weights and (b) Young’s moduli at day 2 and day 28 of free swelling culture (FS), or after 14 days of free swelling pre-culture followed by 14 days of intermittent biaxial mechanical stimulation at 30% compressive strain and 1 mm sliding shear amplitude (L) (1 Hz, 1 h daily). Total GAG content retained in the constructs (c) normalized to construct wet weight or (d) DNA content. GAGs secreted into the media in 24 h with (L) or without (FS) 1 hours of mechanical loading (e) normalized to construct wet weight and (f) DNA content. In (a) and (b), stars indicate a statistical difference between constructs at day 28 and day 2, while stars in (c–f) indicate differences between free swelling and loaded constructs (*p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001) (3 donors, 2 constructs each).
