Fig. 2
From: Quantitative T2 mapping monitoring the maturation of engineered elastic cartilage in a rabbit model
Characterization of constructs cultured in vitro. (A). Representative Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) images of cell free SF scaffold (SF) and chondrocyte-scaffold construct (EC) after 1week of culture in vitro. Scale bar = 50 μm. White arrow indicates the filopodia growing from the chondrocyte. (B). Representative macroscopic and histological images of constructs after 4 weeks in vitro culture. “C” and “S” refer to the cartilaginous and the scaffold region, respectively. Scale bar = 100 μm. (C). Collagen type II (COL 2), type I (COL 1) and Aggrecan mRNA expression analysis by quantitative Real-time PCR. All data were normalized to the corresponding β-actin value at each time point (2-∆∆CT) and further normalized to the mean value of the target gene in the constructs after 1-week in vitro culture. Data is expressed as mean fold change SD from at least three independent experiments. Statistical differences were calculated using ANOVA and Bonferroni’s test. * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01. Abbreviations: EC: engineered cartilage, SF: silk fibroin scaffold, H&E: hematoxylin-eosin staining, MT: Masson’s Trichrome staining