Figure 3
Chondrocyte replicative capacity under the various oxidative conditions. At each subculture (initial subculture at the start of the experiment: 5 × 104 cells/dish, primary culture), the total number of cells in the dish was determined, and the cells (1 × 105 cells/dish) were placed in a new dish. The number of cells that had attached 6 hours after seeding was determined. The increase in cumulative population doublings (number of cell divisions) at each subculture (n = 4 per treatment group) was calculated based on the number of cells attached and the cell yield at the time of the next subcultivation. Cell cultures were considered to have achieved their proliferative limit (senescence) when they did not exceed a twofold increase in 4 weeks. Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation of four donors. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01, versus control group at each incubation time.