Fig. 5

GAG synthesis of mnCPC (a–c) and hCh (d–f) on DECM evaluated by alcian blue staining and quantified with DMMB assay (g). GAG synthesis was detectable on day 14 for mnCPC (a) and hCh (d). The GAG synthesis increased clearly from day 14 until day 42 (c, f). The DECM without cells contained no stainable GAG (h). Compared to mnCPC, hCh demonstrated a slightly higher synthesis and accumulation (g) of GAG during culture for up to 42 days. GAG content was normalised in respect to cell number and dry weight of unseeded DECM. The values represent the mean ± SD with n = 12 replicates