Fig. 1

The tissue-engineering process using costal chondrocytes and neocartilage sample preparation. (A) Self-assembled constructs are envisioned to be used in the knee through an allogeneic, non-homologous approach. Donor costal chondrocytes were expanded, rejuvenated, and self-assembled in vitro for eventual implantation into the knee. (B) At specific maturation time points (i.e., days of culture), the neocartilage constructs were divided and assayed by various methods. Histological analysis included staining with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), picrosirius red (PR), and safranin O with fast green counterstains (SO). Mechanical analysis included uniaxial tensile testing and compressive stress-relaxation testing. Biochemical analyses for total collagen (COL), glycosaminoglycan (GAG), and DNA content and fluorophore assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE) were performed from a papain digest