Figure 5

Chondrocyte cluster formation. (A) The severity of chondrocyte cluster formation was significantly higher in the injured cartilage cultured in the absence of synoviocytes compared to all other treatments. (B) The size of chondrocyte clusters was significantly affected by both treatment and duration in culture; injured cartilage samples cultured alone had significantly larger chondrocyte clusters at days 16 and 32 compared to samples in other treatment groups. Bars represent mean (± SEM), bars with the same letter for each pathology are not significantly different from each other, significance set at alpha (p-value) = 0.05. Main effects or interactions were evaluated in the AOV table with a predictive F-value (Pr > F). (C) Representative H&E sections showing differences in chondrocyte cluster formation. Picture oriented with superficial surface on top and deep zone on bottom. Arrows indicate chondrocyte clusters, n = 6.