Fig. 7

Investigation of the preconditioned NSCs retention and chondrocyte phenotype in the mesh scaffolds upon subcutaneous transplantation  in vivo. Once the preconditioned NSCs were pre-labelled using PKH-26 dye, they were loaded in the mesh scaffolds, then subcutaneously transplanted into nude mouse (n = 4, each group). a PKH-26 positive NSCs as confirmed via confocal microscope at 3 weeks post-transplantation. b Representative H&E stained images of NSCs in the mesh scaffolds. The black triangle indicates the NSCs with a lacunae structure. c Quantitative analysis of percentage of PKH-26 positive area per unit area (µm2) as determined via imageJ. d The mean number of NSCs with lacunae structure per unit area (mm2) is presented. Statistically significant difference as marked *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 or ***p < 0.001