Chondrogenic potential of cells at passage 2.

An aliquot containing 2.5 × 105 passage-2 cells was pelleted and cultured in chondrogenic differentiation medium for 21 days. (A) Macroscopic photographs of cartilage pellets (6 pellets per canine; 6 canine donors). (B) Diameter of cartilage pellets (n = 36). (C) Wet weight of cartilage pellets (n = 36). (D) Histology of sections stained with toluidine blue. (E) Histology of sections immunostained for collagen type II. (F) Amount of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) per pellet (n = 36). (G) DNA amount per pellet (n = 36). (H) Ratio of sGAG amount/DNA amount (n = 36). (I) DNA residual rate during chondrogenesis (= DNA amount at 21 days/DNA amount at 0 day; 3 pellets per canine; 3 canine donors). The means ± SD are shown. *, p < 0.05. **, p < 0.01 with the Kruskal Wallis test, followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisons test.