Journal: Bioactive Materials

Article Title: Precisely regulated physically-crosslinked carriers enable synergetic release of bioactive factors for MSC-mediated cartilage regeneration

doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.01.009

Figure Lengend Snippet: In vivo chondrogenesis of hydrogels incorporated with different combinations of PSF and KSF. (a) Alcian blue and Safranin O staining of different combinations after 21-day implantation. G1: 5 % β-sheet PSF +5 % β-sheet KSF; G2: 15 % β-sheet PSF +30 % β-sheet KSF; G3: 30 % β-sheet PSF +40 % β-sheet KSF; G4: 40 % β-sheet PSF +50 % β-sheet KSF. Scale bar = 200 μm. (b–d) Quantitative analysis of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α surrounding defect cartilage 1 week and 3 weeks after operation. (e, f) Macroscopic and MRI observations of rat femoral condyles at week 6 and 12. Red circles and red arrows show the original defect zone under macroscope and MRI respectively. Scale bar = 1 mm. (g) Relative ratio of average optical density (versus G1) that shows the staining intensity of Alcian blue and Safranin O staining. (h) ICRS scoring of macroscopic evaluations. (i) The repaired cartilage using a nanoindentation instrument. Scale bar = 1 cm. (j, k) Reduced modulus and hardness of the regenerated cartilage. ∗p < 0.05; ∗∗p < 0.01; ∗∗∗p < 0.001; ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001.

Article Snippet: The suspension was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 10 min at 4 °C, and the supernatant was collected, and Elisa assay was performed following the manufacturer's instructions for rat IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α ELISA kits (Elabscience, China).

Techniques: In Vivo, Staining